More Human Than Human
by RedRogue
Summary: [COMPLETE] Chase resurrected her, now she is forced back into life as his reluctant slave. The price of freedom: drive Reid to addiction so death will surely follow when he Ascends... Only it's easier said than done.
1. Liv to Die

**More Human Than Human**

**-**

**Chapter 1:**

**-**

The world is a strange place. Though it's forever constant, our knowledge of it is always changing. We are so certain about some things… we trust in them.

We trust that Earth contains the only living beings in the known universe.

We trust that our natural resources will never run out.

We trust that all humans are human and never anything more.

That is a lot of trust.

But there are few, a very few people who challenge these things that we take for granted, that think outside of the box to see many things the world, if ever shown, would not accept nor understand. These people are not afraid of the truth behind the 'trust'. They're the people that have found traces of alien life. They're the people who are watching the air get polluted and the pure water run out, but know they are beyond being able to stop it.

They're the people who have sought out those more human than human. This is about one of those people.

-

Her name was Olivia Burroughs, 'Liv' for short. She's grown up in England, though she was the first of her descendants to do so. Most of her family lived in a small town in Massachusetts, called Ipswich. Her accent was considered to be quite posh, even for England, so she had always grown up with a lot of attention from friends and even boys.

But her first love was investigative journalism. She was loud, outspoken and quite the go-getter when it comes to an unknown or curious matter, and she read mystery novels religiously. Her father (now her mother's ex) also happened to be a detective, and she admired her father very much. When she was small, they would often go over case files together when she would come and visit Ipswich.

She was always told she looked rather like her father, at which she didn't take offense, since she loved her father dearly. And it was spoken in truth: she did have the sharp features like he did, and his jet-black hair and popping green eyes. The only thing she seemed to have inherited from her mother was 'the full lips and big hips' as her father would tease.

She was a born philosopher and a fantastic arguer, which is why she moved to Ipswich to move on to Harvard to pursue law school. Her mother was a lawyer back in England, so she figured once she had her degree good ol' mom would give her a fantastic 'in' for a high-paying job.

Liv fit into the Spenser Academy great, since her family came from vast wealth and the administration treated her great—even if she got a more generous grade than she deserved. But who was she to complain?

Also, she made friends fast. Her roommate Charlotte was a handful, since Liv and her disagreed about almost everything, but 'Charlie' introduced her to more down-to-earth and easygoing people, whom she made more compatible friends with. She even found herself a boy that had captured her interest.

But here is where things go downhill.

One day, her new boyfriend Paul invited her to a popular town diner and pub called _Nicky's_. It was a nice place, with many things to keep your fun level going. The night went wonderfully, especially when some blonde girl cranked up the jukebox to a good tune that got everyone dancing, including Liv.

Now, Liv was never much of a drinker, but Paul, probably hoping he would get in her pants later, filled her up on one too many. During the dance, she began to feel sick, so Paul graciously led her out back and around the corner, into a dark alley so she could puke freely in the dumpster and not have wait for the line at the bathrooms.

Paul reluctantly left her, promising to go round up our friends and bring the car around, and made her vow not to move from that spot. She agreed, glad to be left alone with her infirmities and feeling embarrassed that she had let myself go too far with the beers.

That's when she heard it. There was a slam at the back door, so she thought that Paul had come back already and went around to see him.

Once she realized that it wasn't Paul, she quickly recoiled back into the alleyway and out of the sight of the strange boys exiting the diner. It wasn't like they would have noticed her anyway, because they were already quite wound up with a disagreement with each other.

"What were you thinking?" one said, obviously angry. He was the tallest, and most stylish too, wearing a thick corduroy navy jacket, his hair perfectly disheveled.

"We were just playin' 'em," a shorter boy with blonde hair poking out from under his cap replied coolly. He was the closest one to her, though his back was facing her. He was obviously the troublemaker of the group, with punk fingerless gloves and a black beanie, and had no doubt caused the ruckus.

"Yeah, com'on, Caleb," his brunette, spiky-haired friend defended him. "They were suckers for it!"

The blonde got in his accuser's face, very closely and with rage in his eyes.

"Why don't you quit being such a _pussy_?" he growled through his teeth. He tried to leave but his tall friend grabbed at his shirt.

"I'm not finished with you yet," the one named Caleb said.

The blonde did not like this, and grabbed at the boy's wrist and yanking himself from his hold.

Suddenly, something odd happened. The first boy began to crumble under the blonde's hold, as if in pain. She saw something else odd too. The blonde's eyes that she was so certain were blue just a second ago, had now fallen to a dark black. Liv stifled a gasp at the sight.

"Reid," Caleb pleaded. "_Stop_."

Suddenly Caleb yanked his arm from Reid's hold and sent him sailing into the wall behind him. Liv gasped and instinctively ducked behind a crate to keep him from seeing her. Her mind became a fizzle, not know what to make of what she was witnessing.

"What will it _take_ for you to _get_ it?" Caleb scolded his fallen friend, who was struggling to get back to his feet. She found that amazing that he would even try, after a crash like that…

"IT'S _ADDICTIVE,_ YOU MORON!" Caleb went on. "You've seen what it can do if you abuse it—you want that, that's _your_ business—but if you Use in the open like you did tonight you risk exposing us all… and _that_ I won't let happen."

He said the word 'Use' like it had some hidden meaning, a code word for something she wasn't aware of.

The blond was on his feet by now, his eyes still as black as ever, standing with his feet apart and his hands clenching the air at his sides. He was gathering the strength for something.

"My power is greater than yours," Caleb warned.

"Not until you Ascend!" Reid argued.

'Ascend'—another foreign code word that held some significance she wasn't aware of.

"All right, go for it, tough guy," the first boy challenged as if he was doing the blond a favor.

Reid tried to attack his friend with a levitating metal barrel, but he was immediately deflected and sent sailing back again with some invisible force, right into some crates full of empty recyclable beer bottles.

The blonde was determined, she had to give him that, because he was struggling to get right back up again, only getting more angry with each blow against him— and his pride. Caleb immediately prepared to send him flying again.

"Stop it, this is crazy!" a taller boy with longer hair and a muscle shirt held back Caleb, trying to plead rationality into him, but he wouldn't have it.

"It's for his own good," Caleb passed it off, and spoke to the blonde again, spitting out his words with repugnance. "_Keep_ Using like you did tonight— like you did last night!"

He said it like a dare. He said it like a man who was telling someone to go get drunk then drive home—it was an ill wish of some sort.

"When you Ascend you'll be as good as dead!" Caleb shouted.

"So I fixed her car—big deal!"

"Don't play me, Reid… I'm talking about later and you know it."

"The hell, I do!" he argued. He got closer and lowered his voice, though his fury was still evident. "I didn't Use '_later'_."

Liv then saw a light on the wall near to her, then heard Paul's car pull up to the front of the bar. She tiptoed backward slowly and silently, having decided she had most certainly heard enough. She got into Paul's car, and told him to drive her back to the dorms a little more hurriedly than she had meant to. She didn't mean to rush him, but she was frightened out of her mind and wanted to put some distance between her and those freaky boys as soon as humanly possible.

Paul seemed confused but obeyed without question. They never said a word to each other the whole way back.

Thanks to the liquor, Liv fell asleep quite quickly. She was glad for it— because she didn't think she would've gotten a wink of sleep otherwise.

-

It's her own fault really; the natural born investigator in her always urged her to never stop until she discovered the truth. Little did she know that door was better left unopened.

She tried to forget it, she really did. She tried to pass it off as the beer making her hallucinate that night in that alleyway, but she wouldn't believe it. She just couldn't let it go.

As soon as she heard that those boys went to the same school that she did, and even attended some of her classes, she took it as a sign and went on the case.

She asked around and found that those four boys were four of the most popular students in school. It was easy to find out who they were, since seemingly everybody knew about them:

Their ancestors were the founders of the town and of the school, thus they were known as the 'Sons of Ipswich'. They went everywhere together. They were state swimming champions. They got good grades, and hot girls. Almost everyone she asked was convinced that they were the perfect set of populars, save for troublemaking personality quirks.

The rest she found out through research and her own assumptions. The _Chronicles of Paganism_ was one she found to be especially useful:

They were mysterious. They had been seen in sticky situations, but nothing seemed to show on their permanent record. Their ancestors were equally mysterious, seemingly invincible in former battles where they should have been doomed, rich when they should have been poor, and otherwise completely suspicious.

She should have known this wasn't a thing to be snooping around in, but she just couldn't stop. She always had to know more, to find the proof. She thought about it day and night. Even Paul, who grew bored of her when she had stopped hanging out with him because of her intense research sessions, didn't bother her in the least when they broke up, because her head was so filled up with these wondrous things.

The blonde, she soon found, was especially fruitful to spy on, since he used his Power more than the others. Though sadly, he never used it long enough for her to get a snapshot of him with her cell. He was too good at hiding it.

She should have known her luck would run out, but she still could not stop.

She followed them out one day in her small car, until they stopped at a large, abandoned barn. After they had gone inside, she parked several hundred feet away and walked down through the fields to the barn as well. The door was left open, so she proceeded to enter slowly and cautiously, poking her head inside the door for any sign of them. It was eerily quiet inside, and the boys were nowhere to be found.

She opened the creaky, complaining door a little wider to allow the rest of her body inside. Still, there was no sight of them, though her heart pounded right through her ribcage, scared out of her wits that they might jump out from behind a hay bale and yell: "_Gotcha_!"

Thankfully, she came completely inside, and still no surprises.

She began to scan around, wondering where they had gone, when she froze at the sound of voices. They seemed to be coming from below her, but she couldn't be sure how that was possible.

She followed the voices to a hole in the ground, where she heard the boys speaking of something she couldn't hear at first, but then when their voices began to rise, it became quite clear.

"Com'on, Caleb!" said a deeper voice. "WE'RE TALKING ABOUT _KATE_!"

His voice seemed to be becoming louder, and she heard noises like footsteps and realized he was coming out. She quickly dove headfirst into a large haystack to hide herself.

"POGUE, WAIT!" his friend called after him, but the first boy had already run outside, and she soon heard a motorcycle zooming away into the twilight. She heard two cars soon follow, but only two, and she knew that there were _four_ boys, so she felt it best to wait just to be sure they were gone.

After many minutes of silence, she poked her head out. She was alone.

She set off to where they had exited from, kicking around the hay until she could see the handle to the trapdoor. She let herself inside.

Down the stone stairs were many candles, and a round table with a pentagram shape carved into it. Five stone chairs seemingly carved out of the walls themselves sat at the five points of the star.

But what really caught her eye were the shelves and shelves of ancient books. One after another she seized the book, gobbling up their words greedily. Most of them were books on spells and strange things like that, but an especially big one proved to make it all worthwhile.

The more she read, the more she understood; the more she realized what the 'Sons of Ipswich' truly were.

She set out for home after replacing everything exactly where it was back in that cave, her mind completely flabbergasted, trying to wrap itself around this new information and comprehend it.

She should have known her luck had just run out.

On the drive back she saw two men in the road, one laying on the ground badly injured next to a broken motorcycle, and the other standing over him as if to admire his handiwork.

Liv screamed and swerved, trying to avoid them, and crashed straight into a nearby tree, her small good-for-nothing car crumpling into it like it was made of paper.

And that's when 'Liv'… _died_.

Or, she should have. She opened her eyes to an unfamiliar face standing over her. It was a boy, not half-bad looking, but with an evil grin all over his harshly shaped face. Was this heaven or hell? She could only wonder.

She saw that she was still on the side of the road. The boy had taken her out of the car and laid her on the wet ground. Motorcycle boy was off nearby, still unconscious on the empty street.

"Fortune seems to be smiling upon me today!" the creepy boy standing over her said cheerily. "Let me explain it for you, my dear…"

She tried to open her mouth to ask who the hell he was, but no sound would come out.

"Oh, no," he said assuredly, shaking his head. "Voice or body movement won't come back for another few minutes. Patience! You've just come back from the _dead_, after all."

She grew wide-eyed and looked down in confusion, not feeling any pains from the accident's certain injuries, and realized that she _had_ no injuries.

"See, I revived you with the great and almighty Power," he explained. "Of which, I am of the understanding, you know _all_ about. As such, you are now my dead slave…"

He stroked her face.

"Much prettier than the last one I had—some random boy I killed from school. He served his purpose, but you will prove to be even _more_ useful, I think. Not like you have a choice. Did I mention you were my slave?"

Liv blinked in reply, not knowing what she would say even if she had a voice.

**-**

**I'm not planning on making this story very long, but who knows? Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	2. The Task

**A character concept picture for Olivia is now up on my concept page. Just visit my profile and click on my 'homepage' to see, and even comment, if you like.**

**And thanks so much to those wonderful people who reviewed! Especially to those who are reviewing this AND my other Covenant story—you guys _so_ rock. Anyway, on to the story:**

-

**Chapter 2:**

-

When Liv awoke, she was very confused, since she didn't remember ever falling asleep. She was still in yesterday clothes, and her room was just how she left it. She put a hand on her head and breathed a long sigh of relief, trying her best to excuse the events of last night simply as some sort of strange nightmare, but in her heart, not truly accepting it as fact. She went on to her classes for the day, and began to wonder if it really _had_ been just a bad dream. No one seemed to be looking at her any different, so she assumed she appeared the same physically.

But no, not everything was the same. When she went into Chemistry that day, the one named Pogue was nowhere to be seen.

"Give Mr. Parry your get-well wishes," the teacher explained. "He's had a motorcycle accident and will not be joining us for some time."

Liv gasped, her hand going to her mouth in surprise. No dream? Then that meant… could she really have been resurrected from the _dead_?

Liv began to freak out, and pat down her person to see if she was really here or if she was just a ghost. She noticed the boy sitting to her left eyeing her strangely, at which she immediately decided to stop her nonsense.

"I… lost something," she struggled to excuse her abnormal behavior to him. He just shook his head and went back to spending his attention on the lesson.

When class was over, Liv gathered her books and rushed out as quickly as she could. She hurried through the halls to her only refuge: the library.

Once there, she rummaged through the shelves of books on supernatural things, picking up the _Chronicles of Paganism_ once more. Frantically she sifted through the words, trying to find _something_ that sounded like what had happened to her.

"_In some events said Covenant brothers had an ability to summon recently dead spirits, usually in purpose as messengers to send a warning signal to other members. Due to the ghastly appearance of the spirits, they were dubbed 'darklings'."_

That didn't sound like her at all, since everyone around her could still see her and not scream for their lives.

"Turn the page," a male voice said behind her. She inhaled abruptly in surprise, whipping around to see that creepy boy from last night, hovering over her shoulder to read the book along with her.

"You have to flip it," he explained, then reached over her to do it for her, obviously smelling her hair as he did so. "Read here," he instructed in a low, husky voice.

Shaking in her fear and her heart still racing from the surprise, she bent over the book and kept reading:

"_There were rumors of some such cases of darkling resurrection that were given a human-like reform, so lifelike one could not tell the difference between the truly alive and the once departed. These beings were almost entirely human in appearance, and performed all the same personality traits, wants, desires, and actions, walking among others as normal human beings, never having a distinguishing attribute signifying they had ever been deceased, save for an occasional heavenly glow. The source or direct cause of this glow was never determined."_

Liv stopped reading, unable to catch her breath and feeling a little lightheaded. This was quickly becoming too much for her to take in. The boy's body was still pressed against her back, patiently waiting for her response.

After a few moments of her panting in fear, he put a hand on her left breast, feeling her rapidly racing heart.

"It beats so fast!" he observed with amusement. Did he delight in her terror, or was he just boyishly giddy over groping her? She had enough composure to flick his hand away from her, since that was unquestionably an obstruction of her personal boundaries.

"Just wait, it gets better," he urged, seemingly unoffended. "Keep going."

She feared the words in that book by now, and felt that nothing would be worse than going on with reading it. Even still her fear of the boy overcame her fear of the information, so she went on:

"_They were only suspected spectrals for their unbreakable ties to the 'summoner', and were thus bound to personal slavery unless otherwise released from their hold and allowed to live freely as human individuals once more or sent back to their deathly state. The 'Eidolons' were usually in the form of a woman and served the temporary purposes of carrying on the bloodline, performing tasks too risky for the living, or in turn resurrecting the summoner in case of his imminent death of unnatural causes. Both Eidolons and Darklings can only be summoned within a day of their death."_

The chapter went on to explain some past purposes for the spectrals, but Liv had quite enough. She shoved the book away from herself with disgust, as if it had turned into a very horrid plate of mealworms.

"Don't act like that, my dear," Chase said, wrapping his arms around her waist and stomach like she was his new girlfriend. "After all, that's _you_."

Suddenly Liv jumped away from him, so abruptly she stumbled a bit from the hasty action.

"Get away from me!" she yelled, so loud that the librarian shushed her.

Liv quickly gathered her books and scurried out of there, away from the terrifying boy.Liv went straight back to the refuge of her dorm room, and closed the door behind herself. She leaned her weight against the door, trying to catch her breath. She was so scared, so confused. Charlie laid in her own bed, her yellow hair stirring slightly from the breeze coming through the open window.

But there, on Liv's own bed, sat the same creepy boy.

"I like the accent," he said like it was the most natural thing in the world for him to be laying on her bed. "I'm guessing southern Britain?"

"What? How…?" she began, but couldn't find the words to ask; she was so surprised.

"I told you last night," he said, impatience now entering his tone. "I revived you, so now you belong to _me_. You have to do whatever I say. Part of the package."

Charlie began to stir at the sound of voices, and rubbed her eyes, trying to awaken fully.

"Who the hell are _you_?" she asked rudely, seeing the boy on her bed. He got up to shake her hand politely.

"Chase Collins," he replied. "I'm Olivia's new boyfriend."

"Geezes, Liv," she retorted to her roommate. "You sure move on fast."

"I didn't find him," Liv replied quickly. "He found me."

"Sure did," Chase agreed with a broad smile. "We still have a few bugs to work out, but I'm sure this is going to be the start of a long and glorious relationship."

He looked at Liv when he said that, as if hinting strongly in her direction.

"Liv, let's leave Charlie to finish her nap," Chase said, taking Liv by the hand and leading her towards the door. "Com'on, we have important things to discuss."

-

Liv sat beside Chase out at the quad, with her hands clenching together in her lap, and her body fully tensed. He, on the other hand, lounged on the wooden bench like it was a lazy-boy armchair, his legs spread comfortably and his arm stretched across the back of the bench behind her.

"You're scared shitless, aren't you?" he said abruptly. Liv, in turn, nodded.

"Don't be. I think, given time, you'll grow to like me. Well, ideally, I suppose. Do slaves ever grow to like their masters? I can't remember."

"Why _me_?" Liv asked in a small voice.

"You just happened to be at the right place at the right time. I was going to kill a girl soon anyway, but you seemed rather more… shall we say, _convenient_, given if circumstances take a turn for the worse."

He pulled out a large, thin book, and Liv realized quickly it was a yearbook. He opened it and flipped through the pages.

"Do you see these boys?"

He pointed to the individuals in turn, which happened to be all four of the 'Sons' she had seen in the alleyway that fateful night, the very boys that had gotten her into this tangled web.

"This one here," he pointed to the one named Caleb. "On Saturday, during the night of the Fall dance, he's going to do what they call 'Ascend', when their powers fully mature."

So that was the meaning of that 'Ascend' code word. Things began to become clearer to Liv, and she nodded to confirm that.

"I'm not expecting him to be able to stand against me," Chase went on confidently. "And if all goes well, he'll will his Power my way to save what's left of his pathetic family and dear friends. I'll get to them soon enough. This one here," --he turned the page and pointed to the one with long hair-- "He's already been taken care of. But listen good; here's where you come in…"

He turned back a couple pages and pointed to the blond.

"This one here Ascends around the end of February. That gives you plenty of time to get him hooked. You'll use your 'feminine wiles' for that, of course."

"Hooked?" Liv repeated in confusion.

"The Power is _addictive_, darling. Try to keep up. Reid is obviously very susceptible to the enticement that the Power has, so he should be pretty easy to throw over the edge. Get close to him, be charming, all that. I'll be secretly helping you, of course. Then, when the time is right and he trusts you, get him to Use. A _lot_."

"What will happen when he gets 'thrown over the edge'?" Liv asked with concern. She didn't like the way this was sounding.

"We'll get to that later, pet," he said with a smile. "Just do your job for now. Can you handle that?"

Liv frowned worriedly.

"And what will happen if I don't agree?"

"It will cost you your dignity and your life, my dear."

He said it so smoothly, like it was nothing too terrible at all, which scared Liv out of her senses.

"Know this," he said, his voice going harsher so that she would know he was serious. "I _own_ you. You're just a little puppet to my every whim, dead to everyone except me. I now say where you go, what you do, what you wear, and how you think, and you don't do _anything_ without my permission first. Do you understand?"

Tears threatened to escape Liv's hold. How in the world did this happen to her? She was now under the Roman rule of an evil tyrant—losing her life and her freedom all in a single day. It was enough to make her drown in misery. She somehow managed a nod.

"The dance is a few days away," he continued. "Reid's sure to be attending, so I suggest you wear something…" He scanned her body down suggestively. "_Pretty_… Do some research in the meantime; you're good at that. Find out what kind of girls he likes."

Liv gulped down the lump in her throat, not daring to cross him in fear for her life. He just grinned eerily, a smile seeming unnatural on his frightening face.

After that, he got up he tossed her the keys to her car, informing her it was fixed, and walked off, having said all he needed to say. Liv grasped her heart to try and steady it. After all she had heard, she didn't think it would ever calm again.

-

She plopped down on the pullout aluminum stadium stands, resting her chin on her hands as she watched the Sons of Ipswich swim in an indoor meet. Her subject in question was off to the side with his buddies, standing around in sweatpants to cover the black speedo he surely wore underneath. He wasn't as toned as his friends; in fact, standing next to them he looked rather scrawny in comparison.

She found herself strangely disappointed at the sight of him. Maybe it was the dread of the task before her that brought the dissatisfaction with the boy. Maybe she wanted him to be a heinous, ugly brute to make it all the easier to 'throw him over the edge'. Then again, if he was as gorgeous as his friends, it might be easier to pretend she was in love with him.

Either way, this was what she got, and she couldn't change it. He was it.

She watched as he applauded his friend who had just won the breaststroke run: the smallest of the bunch named Tyler. The boys patted him on the back in turn, but when he came to Reid, the blond playfully pushed the kid back into the water with a large splash, much to the amusement of all.

Liv sighed for the hundredth time that day. Not only was he mediocre in the looks department, he was a _punk_ as well… and she didn't like punks. She knew now that this was going to take a lot more work than she had originally assumed.

**-**

**Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	3. The Day Before

**A special thanks to all of you who reviewed! You all blew me away with such overwhelming response and love for this story. Thank you so much! So without further ado…  
_Read on_:**

-

Chapter 3:

-

"Please, Chase, I beg of you… no…"

Liv pleaded desperately without success to her 'master', knowing it wouldn't do her any good. Chase sat upon her bed, holding her cell phone out for her to use.

"You just don't seem to grasp the fact that you are _dead_, Olivia," Chase said, shaking his head sadly. "You _must_ start acting like it. Be thankful you will have this chance to say goodbye, at least."

"_Please_," she said, clasping her hands together as if in prayer. "Don't make me do this…"

Chase began to fiddle with her phone.

"Oh, look," he said happily. "He's number one on your list."

"I can't…" she said, tears streaming down her face.

"You _can_," Chase said, hitting the 'send' button and handing her phone to her. "And you will."

Liv looked down to her phone with dread, the number dancing across the screen boastfully. The dorm room was so silent she could hear the faint mechanical ringing coming from it, and soon, the male voice saying hello, once, then again when there was no answer.

Liv slowly reached for the phone, wishing very much that the man surely on the other end would just hang up on her. Of course, she knew she had no such luck.

"Hello?" Liv said, wiping the tears off of her eyes with the back of her hand, and trying hard to steady her voice to sound normal. "Sorry, I'm on my cell phone and I get bad reception here."

"Hey there, Sleuth!" her father said cheerfully on the other end. Liv snickered at his pet name for her, his voice sounding like music to her aching ears.

"I haven't heard from you in a while," he went on. "How's school going?"

"Great, Dad," Liv lied, glancing at Chase's smirking face as she said so. It pained her to fib to her own father.

"I'm almost all unpacked and classes are going wonderfully. That's actually why I called."

"What's on your mind?"

"I just registered for a few more classes, and it's taking up almost all my time. I mean, when I'm not in class, I'm either studying, doing homework, eating or sleeping. I hardly even have time to think, let alone socialize."

Liv bit her lip, her words tying her stomach in knots.

"I just called to let you know that I'm not going to be able to talk much anymore… because I'm so busy."

"Oh, that's too bad," her father said with disappointment. He sighed, his displeasure obvious.

"Well, at least you're not going to have time for getting into trouble either."

"I'm really sorry, Dad," Liv said, the tears reforming in her eyes. Her father could hear her grief, and it provoked him to ask about it.

"Is something bothering you, Sleuth?"

"I'm just as sad as you are dad," she admitted. "Really… I wish there was someway to change it, but I'm afraid…"

Liv glanced at Chase again and sniffed up her running nose.

"—I'm afraid I haven't the choice. I love you, Dad, very much…"

"Are you _crying_, Liv?"

"Its just stress, Dad, don't worry about me. I have to go now."

She knew she wasn't fooling her father, but he let it go.

"I miss you, honey," he said at length. Liv smiled through the tears rolling down her face.

"I miss you too, Dad. Love you."

"I love you too."

"Good-bye…" Liv said in a voice barely above a whisper, then flipped her phone closed.

"There!" Chase practically shouted, standing up with his arms in the air. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Liv shook her head as the warm salt water flowed freely from her eyes, beyond words to respond.

"That was the last one, I think," Chase said, scanning her phone for contacts he may have overlooked. "Alrighty, I'll be keeping this then."

He stuffed the cell phone in his pocket, and that's when Liv protested.

"But that's _mine_!"

"And you won't be needing it unless I _say_ you need it. Not like you have anyone to call, right?"

Liv frowned, unable to counter that.

"Be thankful I'm not destroying it, Olivia," Chase said with another one of his infamous evil grins. "Now, I'd like you to listen carefully."

Liv nodded and didn't speak.

"Should things go ill with my big battle with Caleb tomorrow, I want you to follow these very specific instructions."

He placed a folded piece of lined paper on her desk.

"These are in _your_ best interests to use, my dear. If you don't, you will _die_ within twenty-four hours of my own death. Follow this to the 'T', and we'll both be saved for it. Do I make myself clear?"

She nodded.

"Crystal, sir."

"'Sir'," he repeated. "I like that… Alright, off with you. Shouldn't you be off keeping tabs on that _blond_ goon somewhere?"

"Of course," she said, grabbing her things quickly and prepared to obey. She was thankful for the excuse to leave his intimidating presence and planned to do so quickly, before he decided to change his mind. It kept her up at night to think of what indiscretions he might think of doing to her…

"Oh, and Olivia?" he called behind her. She stopped and looked over her shoulder at him.

"Yes?" she said breathlessly and perhaps a little bit rushed.

"Don't get clever on me, now," he said with look of warning.

She didn't quite know exactly what he meant by that, but got the general point of it at least, and nodded her assurance that she wouldn't.

-

Liv kept her eye on her subject as she sat with her friends down for lunch. The boy seemed to go nowhere without his fellow warlocks, but after the motorcycle accident, they were minus one today. They usually were seen with a pair of girls, though, like Pogue, one seemed to be missing today. Her roomie showed, a blond that seemed to have eyes only for Caleb. All of them appeared to be in very deep conversation about something that concerned them greatly.

A bushy-haired redhead strolled up to their table, one they apparently knew, and she leaned onto the table like a whore to a slow-moving vehicle. Liv grew troubled when she saw the whore's eyes were set on Reid… and he was enjoying it.

"Are you listening, Liv?" one of her friends, named Cassie, said. Cassie wasn't one who would take offense to Liv's daydreaming, since she herself was a victim of it regularly. Cassie was a spirited girl, who spent a lot of time in books when she should really be doing things like homework or sleeping. She liked to dress her own way too when in their free time, which didn't gather her much popularity, but Liv admired her for being so bold.

Cassie followed Liv's eyes to where she had been staring.

"You checking out the Ipswich boys?" she asked, then laughed. "You're pretty, Liv, but even they are _way_ out of your league-- trust me."

Another one of her friends, named Rachel, slapped Cassie on the arm as punishment for her demeaning words.

"Shut up, Cass!" she scolded. "_No_ one is out of _our_ league. Liv's got the 'mysterious new girl' thing going for her. It's worked for her so far."

"True," Cassie caved.

Rachel was a loud Puerto Rican from New York, and dressed like a New Yorker too, collaborating everything perfectly to accentuate her caramel colored hair and almost the same color skin. She was a hopeless romantic, and loved to hear other people's stories of love, though seemed too chicken to pursue a story of her own, and thus lived vicariously through those brave enough. She was a loyal friend, and fast talker, and took more pride in being a matchmaker than anything else. She had taken it the hardest when Liv had broken up with Paul, having made the match herself and was so certain they would last longer.

Rachel leaned close to stare at the popular boys as well.

"Which one did you have your eye on, Liv?" she asked.

Liv blushed slightly and looked over at the boys again with her.

"None of them, really," she confessed half-heartedly. "I was just wondering who the girl was, actually."

"Oh, that's Kira," Rachel explained. "She's been after the boys for years. She's the school slut. Runs with Aaron Abbott mostly."

"Who's Aaron Abbott?" Liv asked.

Cassie pointed a finger to another table, full of rowdy jocks centered around a long-haired, prideful-looking boy.

"You'd do best to steer clear of him. He thinks every girl is like Kira, or should be. It's pretty common knowledge that he's a jackass."

Liv chuckled a bit at her blunt honesty.

"Seriously, which one's your favorite?" Rachel insisted.

Liv knew boy-crazy Rachel wasn't going to be satisfied until she picked one of them, so she pointed to Reid. It was really a lie, since she fancied Caleb the best looking of them all, but she figured she had better get started on her 'task' on the right foot, and that meant the rumors had to all coincide—even those of her closest friends.

"I was quite taken with that one," she said.

Cassie giggled.

"Me too," she agreed quickly.

"Not me," Rachel countered. "Pogue's the best. It's too bad he's forever dating that 'Kate' girl. They've never been 'off' long enough for me to have a chance at him. From what I hear,_ Reid's_ currently single, though."

Cassie grinned at Liv.

"My sources tell me hasn't been asked to the _dance_ yet either."

"Looks like your 'sources' spoke too soon, girl," Rachel said, pointing over to Kira, who was beaming broadly and taking a seat next to Reid. "Reid just got snagged."

Cassie pouted in disappointment, though Liv felt a bit relieved that she would have an excuse to avoid asking him herself.

"Have you bought a dress yet?" Rachel asked Liv, who promptly shook her head no.

"Haven't had the time, really," Liv lied. She didn't want to admit that she could barely afford to _eat_, let alone buy an expensive prom dress. "I figured I'd just wear a cocktail dress I wore to my last prom back in England."

Cassie and Rachel both stared at her with disapproval.

"You poor thing," Rachel said, like Liv had just admitted she had a deadly cancer.

"It's alright," she passed it off. Cassie glanced at Rachel.

"We're going to buy you one," Cassie told her firmly.

"What?" Liv said in alarm. "No way, I'm not going to become your charity case…"

"Oh, it's not for free," Rachel said with a devious smile. "We have some conditions that go along with it."

"What kind of conditions?" Liv said, leaning close to let them know she was all ears.

"Well," Rachel said, sitting up straight. "You have to let _us_ pick it out for you… no questions asked and absolutely _no_ input in the matter."

Liv frowned, wondering what they had in mind. She didn't trust Cassie's fashion judgment, but she completely trusted Rachel's, so she nodded in agreement.

"Anything else?"

"Yes," Cassie said excitedly. She only got excited when her imagination was getting loose, so it scared Liv.

"When we get there, you have to ask Reid to dance with you."

Liv glanced over at Reid, who was just laughing with his friends about something, as Kira grew suddenly very mad and offended and stormed off in a huff.

"Alright," Liv agreed with a pleased grin. "I guess I can do that."

**-**

**Don't worry, there's more of the boys in the next chapter! Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**

**PS. Hey! Just for fun, I've posted several dresses on my homepage character concept site for YOU to decide on what Liv should wear to the Fall Formal. I had _maybe_ a little too much fun picking out dresses for her… What can I say: I felt like I was in high school again! Anyway, put your votes in now! Thanks!**


	4. Rejection and Resurrection

**A special thanks to all those who voted! The winning dress is revealed in this chapter so by all means…  
_Read on:_**

-

**Chapter 4:**

-

"Liv, you are a masterpiece," Rachel said decidedly.

Cassie turned Liv around to the full-length mirror behind her so she might see the finished product of their work.

Liv almost didn't recognize her own reflection, for she didn't look much like herself. Though the olive colored dress wasn't one she probably would have chosen for herself, she had to admit that it did look rather nice on her, and she grew fond of it quickly. It was on the shorter side in length, having a gathered front and a bared back. She was slightly glad for how it made her chest seem bigger than it actually was, accentuating her modest bust line. Rachel had done her make-up very strategically, and had donated a pair of long silver chandelier earrings to match her silver strappy shoes, which made her legs seem long as well. Those 'suicide heels', as Liv called them, were also not a wardrobe addition she would've chosen, having at least four inches of lift and very little density.

But once she saw the ensemble all together and on her, she smiled and wouldn't have changed a single thing. She immediately gushed and praised her friends for their generosity and hard work.

The girl's left to their own dorms to get ready themselves, promising to regroup at the dance. Liv looked at herself in the mirror once more, not really believing it was really herself staring back at her. She vowed then, that she would find a way to pay her friends back, even if it wasn't with money, she would find a way…

"You really do look quite stunning, you know…" said an all too familiar voice that made Liv's heart skip a beat in her surprise. Liv looked to Chase's reflection in the mirror, as he came up behind her and put an authoritive hand on her shoulder. His touch was chilling, sending a cold shiver up Liv's spine as he leaned to whisper in her ear.

"You _will_ remember your responsibilities for tonight, won't you?" he said with a threatening tone as he breathed in the scent of her perfume.

Liv gulped in nervousness, uncomfortable at his close distance, and nodded.

"Good girl…" he said, letting his lips graze her earlobe. "You don't know how I wish I could join you… but I have pressing engagements elsewhere-- you understand."

"I'm sure I'll get over it," Liv assured him shakily, finally finding her voice. She wasn't sure if sarcasm was wise with her 'master', but he seemed to find it humorous.

"I'm sure you will," he said with a chuckle, finally backing off.

-

Liv stepped out from her small car and took a deep breath as she looked upon the looming Spenser academy. The dense fog was clouding the large castle of a building, making the place seem all the more uninviting. Music was already booming from within, and the guests were arriving by the pairs. She felt a little foolish to be coming alone. As she got closer, she spotted Chase already there, hanging around like a gargoyle on the rooftops. What he was waiting for, she didn't know.

She entered the gymnasium and soon spotted her friends, who were all to eager to show her off to their other various acquaintances. Cassie had chosen a loud white 80's style halter dress that looked wonderful on her thin body, and Rachel wore a deep satin plum-colored dress which looked great against her caramel complexion.

All too soon, Rachel tapped Liv on the shoulder and pointed to the door, where Reid Garwin was just entering with his friend Tyler. Liv wasn't surprised it was just the two of them, for she knew one was still recuperating in the hospital, while the other was battling Chase at that very moment. Liv wasn't surprised by the expression on Garwin's harsh features. It was one of deep distress, one reflected also on his friend's face. She assumed they were both worried for their friend's well being.

She sighed, having hoped the blond wouldn't show. Why would a punk be at a Fall Formal anyway? It didn't make sense to her, yet, there he stood, fingerless gloves and all.

Cassie pushed Liv onward.

"You promised!" she urged Liv. "You have to do it!"

"Give him a moment to _breathe_," Liv protested. "He just _got_ here, for goodness sakes!"

"_So_?" Rachel and Cassie said together, then laughed together as well.

Liv frowned, then bit her lip and headed over to Garwin. He didn't seem to notice her coming at first, until she stood directly before him.

Once near, she realized that he looked much better up close, his blond hair hanging over his bright blue-gray colored iris's. He would've stood a bit taller than her, a good couple of inches at least, if she hadn't been wearing those heels.

This sudden realization of his tolerable looks made his presence all the more intimidating. He stood as if he thought he was cooler than anyone else in the place, and ten times more macho than any man here as well. That attitude quickly took away from his handsome attributes and replaced it with only more repulsion from Liv's point of view. She couldn't get past that foul expression and how it reminded her of Chase's, which made a knot at the bottom of her stomach appear.

"Hi," she said, mostly to announce her existence to him. Reid seemed confused for a moment at her abrupt boldness, but quickly shrugged it off.

"Yeah, hi," he replied absentmindedly, then looked the crowd over as if searching for someone else.

"Would you fancy a dance with me?" Liv tried, wondering where this courage in her was coming from.

Reid looked down at her, his attention turned at her foreign English accent. He seemed to reevaluate her, scanning her appearance down quickly then looked her back in the eyes. After a moment or so, he said:

"Nah."

Liv was greatly insulted at his insolence, a hand instinctively going on her hip and her mouth dropping in shock.

"And whyever not?" she blurted out.

"You're not my type," he replied almost apologetically.

"Your _type_? Honestly," Liv retorted. "I'm not looking for _marriage_… It's just one_ dance_…"

Liv knew by now that she had caught Reid in a seriously grumpy mood, and was going to pay for her insistence on the matter with his ruthless response.

"You're too…" Reid said, peering at her with squinting eyes as he thought hard on the right description to fit her. "What's the word… help me out here, Ty-- cute?"

"No… Clean?" Tyler suggested, but Reid shook his head no. With every new word the two came up with Liv got more and more offended.

"Inexperienced? No…"

"Goody-goody?"

"Close… wholesome?"

"Pure?"

"I got it!" Reid announced. "_Naïve_. You're green… you're like… a little _sister_. You just feel wrong… So, thanks, but no thanks."

Tyler nodded his agreement decidedly. Liv scowled at their audacity, so insulted she was beyond words to even begin to reply.

Reid, seeing as the matter was quite settled in his eyes, waved her off.

"_Cheerio_!" he said mockingly.

Liv stared with a gaping mouth and wide eyes. She wanted to say something, but she just couldn't get her brain to get over the shock. She somehow managed to will her body to move. A rush of anger flowed through her as she weaved her way through the crowd, her cheeks hot with embarrassment, and the farther she walked, the more speed she obtained, until she left right out the front door into the pouring rain.

'Like a little sister'? What was _that_ supposed to mean anyway? She just couldn't imagine why he would say that. Sure, she didn't like to do stupid things, but did that mean she was a goody-goody? Of course not.

She got in her fair share of trouble back in England, and had gotten all of that out of her system. Drinking and her definitely didn't mix, she discovered. There were a few nights that she sincerely regretted. How could he assume she was pure and judge her like that, just outright labeling? It was like he stamped her on the forehead with the words: 'no fun' and sent her on her way. It was infuriating.

Suddenly Liv felt an agonizing spasm in her chest, so painful and so sudden it made her fall to her knees. She called out, but couldn't draw in breath.

Something told her that Chase wasn't doing so well in battle. As the pain began to subside, she reached for her small silver handbag, opened it, and pulled out the folded piece of lined paper which contained Chase's specific instructions on his own resurrection.

For a moment or two she deliberated obeying them. Such an evil man as Chase deserved to die, and _stay_ dead. But at the cost of her own life as well? She couldn't bear it.

Getting up slowly, she set out to her small car once more. Time to head over to Putnam Barn.

-

The deed had already been done. The death ticket had already been given to Chase. The windows were in shambles. The barn was going up in flames even through the buckets of water drops falling from the sky. The enemy had already disappeared. Liv gazed over the blazing building before her, the looked down at the first item on the list.

_1: Obtain a handful of the earth on which I have died upon._

That was easy enough… there was dirt and mud all around.

_2: Place one of my belongings on the obtained dirt._

Liv dig through her handbag and pulled out his toothbrush, and put it on the ground.

_3: Repeat these words…_

"_Selah undomnia extollo humus_," she said aloud.

_4: Place your hand upon the ground. Count to twenty, then step back._

Liv did just that.

The earth slowly began to shift, the puddles of muddy water beginning to bubble and boil. Liv took an extra step back, just to be safe.

The ground began to cave into itself, until suddenly a hand burst through the sludge. It grabbed around for something to hold on, and grasped the muck under it, until next the head of the boy emerged.

Liv shivered in the cold, watching as Chase fought his way out of the ground much like a baby bird fights its way out of an eggshell. Little by little he made his way out, until at last he was able to climb out.

He stood before Liv like a mud-monster, completely covered with it from head to toe. Through the darkness though, his broad smile shined brightly. He seemed quite pleased to be alive again.

"Olivia, my dear," he said quite decidedly. "You have done _well_."

Suddenly Liv regretted her actions very, very much.

**-**

**Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	5. Like a Little Sister

**Chapter 5:**

**-**

Liv had to admit: she was obsessing.

She usually did that when she planned, expected, and hoped for something to go a certain way, and when it didn't, she had a hard time letting go.

She had played over the moment at the dance over and over again, wondering where she went wrong. In her mind, she had imagined the evening turning out quite differently. She had intended to make an entrance, to be noticed because of how different she look in her 'pet' outfit chosen by her friends. She had thought she would at least be able to get a dance out of that boy Reid, have some light-hearted conversation and let him admire her witty side. Thus, she would initiate a friendship with him, and perhaps eventually a relationship.

What had actually happened was a train wreck. He had openly insulted her, calling her too 'pure' for his tastes. His words had cut deep, since she could truthfully admit she had never been spoken to that way before. What were the words he used?

"'_You're like a little sister… you just feel wrong_'," she repeated aloud to her two friends. Rachel was lounging on Liv's bed, reading a teen magazine by the beautiful Saturday sunlight streaming in through the window behind her, while Cassie kept herself busy playing jacks on the floor, making a relaxing beat with the bouncing ball.

Liv wondered for a moment if Reid could somehow sense she wasn't fully alive. He had the same Power as Chase, didn't he? Maybe that was why she felt so wrong to him…

The thought cheered her a bit, but not a lot.

"I mean, _honestly_!" Liv cried out, throwing her hands in the air in her frustration.

"I've been trying for years to get Reid to notice me," Cassie admitted. "He's just thick."

"_Well_…" Rachel said wincingly. "Liv, you _do_ dress kinda… cutesy."

"The school has uniforms, Rae," Liv reminded her. "We all dress the same!"

"It's mostly _how_ you wear it," Rachel explained as she turned the page of her magazine. "And what you wear in your off time too, don't forget that."

Liv turned to Cassie for her opinion. Liv didn't even need to say anything; Cassie seemed to sense Liv's eyes were upon her.

"Don't look at me like that," Cassie commanded as she looked around the hardwood for her now lost bouncy-ball. "I remain neutral."

At this new disclosure, Liv turned around and gazed upon her reflection in the full-length mirror that hung behind her dorm door. She examined how she was dressed very closely.

The more she looked, the more she began to see that Rachel… was _right_.

Liv shook the thought out of her head. Just because she was a slave didn't mean she had to surrender everything she stood for. She wasn't going to dress like a floozy just to get some silly boy's attention, even if he was her 'task'. She had _plenty_ of time to find a more dignified way, and still maintain some self-respect.

Or so she thought.

**-**

"As much of a _saint_ you've been these past few days," Chase said, bursting into the bathroom of the empty dorm unannounced later that night. Liv jumped in surprise, and dropped the toothbrush she had been holding onto the floor.

"I have to confess I am sincerely disappointed in you," he finished.

"Please, don't do that," she asked through her foamy mouth, then turned back to the sink to rinse out her mouth. "You gave me a fright."

Chase chuckled.

"That's what I love about you, Olivia," he retorted, coming up from behind her and gently squeezing her shoulder. "You're just so damn _cute_. I find it easy to forgive you for such things."

Liv pushed past him and went about making up her bed for sleep.

"We're in a business relationship, Chase," Liv reminded him. "Nothing more."

Chase grinned broadly, that evil way he couldn't help but grin.

"That's exactly my point, Olivia," he said in a low, seductive voice. "We are in a business transaction. Don't forget that I'm the master and you are the servant. So let's get down to business."

He came up from behind her again, this time grabbing her around the middle as to make sure she couldn't move away again. He breathed in the scent of her hair deep and noticeably. Liv shivered at his touch, frightened tears gently asking to slip from her eyes.

"How are you coming along with Garwin?" he said as a change of subject, perhaps to divert her attention away from his wandering hands. "Little birds are telling me, not well. This disappoints me."

"I'm doing my best," she replied sullenly.

"The clock is ticking, Olivia. If you haven't even gone out on a date by the end of the week, I just might consider your usefulness to me… _ended_."

Liv gasped.

"That's completely _mad_!" Liv protested. "Without me you would've never come back from the dead! Besides, I'm not what he wants. However can I--"

"—I'm sure you'll figure out something," Chase interrupted like it was an easy answer. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, my dear. If you value your life, which I certainly think you do since you resurrected me to save your own skin, I suggest you take some drastic action. If you're not what he likes, then _become_ what he likes. You have until Sunday."

-

Liv cried in her bed that night, as Charlie slept soundly on the other side of the room. Charlie was quite the heavy sleeper, she had discovered, unless people were talking at which she would awaken to the sound of a whisper. Liv had been crying a lot at night, so Charlie quickly learned to sleep through it.

But death began to seem too real to Liv now, and the threat of it was more than she could bear.

Chase was right though: she might as well consider herself dead already, for she was about as good as dead now. The only life-support she had was to obey Chase's every whim, and currently his whims involved a certain superficial blond Ipswich asshole.

Liv's mourning went on for days. Every time she would come across Garwin she would burst out into tears, at the raw horror he represented. That horrid boy was her only ticket to survival. And also her one-way route straight to hell, if she failed.

Liv finally came to the understanding that sorrow and fear accomplished nothing, and she was running out of days. By Thursday, she knew it was time to get serious and fight for her right to live.

That day, she took all of her money and went shopping for a whole new wardrobe. She didn't even tell her friends about her sudden quest to change her image, just told them she had other plans for the day and set out for the nearest mall.

The one person she took along for advice was her roommate, Charlotte. Charlie was exactly the inspiration she needed, since Charlie was in the popular group, hanging with such cheerleader-type girls as Kira Snider. Charlie had objected at first to her style being copied, then suddenly decided to help Liv, telling her that if she was going to wear her clothes she could 'at least wear them right.' Liv was thankful for the help, though knew it best not to say so, lest she remind Charlie that they were actually getting along. Charlie would never stand for that, and would then cease all fashion assistance immediately.

As for the uniform, Charlie had taught Liv how to use it to her advantage. The sweater vest was completely abandoned, allowing the white shirt to be lifted and tied around her ribcage. The skirt was lowered to around her hips, and the blue blazer was brought in to accentuate her back. Stilettos were now over her white knee-high stockings. Her long black hair was cut, styled and conditioned, and waved freely in even the slightest of breezes.

Come Friday, Liv had never felt more confident in her life, and actually looked upon her reflection in the mirror with an attitude she had never known existed in her. She felt like she was in costume; the costume of a heartbreaker. Or maybe just a slut…

Oh, if daddy could see his little girl _now_…

But if that's what it would take to get this guy's attention, so be it. If she lived long enough for Chase to release her, she would explain everything to her father.

"What do you think?" Liv said as she turned back to Charlie for her final approval.

"You actually look like someone I might want to hang with sometime," Charlie admitted. "Except for one thing."

Liv's eyes went wide when Charlie pulled out the most horrid piece of clothing Liv had ever laid eyes on, if you could even call it clothing… It seemed like a strategically arranged piece of red lace and rhinestones.

"No," she said, shaking her head firmly. "No _way_…"

"Trust me," Charlie said, flipping her sandy hair off her shoulder. "You wear this, you'll turn the head of every guy in _town_."

"_And_ be kicked out of school," Liv added.

"Hey, it's _your_ choice," Charlie backed off with a snippy tone. "Just depends on how badly you want to change your image. To be badass you actually have to be _bad_ once in a while—it's kind of how it works."

Liv frowned at Charlie's impudence, then looked in the mirror. If it meant the difference between life and death…

Liv glared determinedly, bravery seeping into her at the thought. She decided. She would do it…

She would wear the thong.

"We'll see how much of a little sister I am _then_, won't we, Garwin?" she chuckled to herself evilly.

**-**

**I'm so sorry it's so short! But I had to stop here, lest my update be ten pages long. The next chapter will be up by the end of the week, or sooner, I promise. And it will be longer as well. For now, please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	6. A New Way To Liv

Chapter 6:

-

This was it. This was the death of the old Liv and the birth of a whole new her. This was the start of a revolution, a whole new person.

In a way, it was kind of liberating. She could be whatever the hell she wanted to be, with no consequences because there was no future for her.

But though it was liberating, it would take time to get used to the idea. Liv knew that if she heard a single hoot, whistle or catcall her confidence would fail and it would surely be the end of everything, so she cleverly hooked up her iPod, and let herself stroll to the beat in an over-accentuated swagger.

What turned their heads was the thong, and she knew it, for it wasn't every day that you see a girl walk down the hall with red rhinestone 'butt floss' (as she called it) hanging out for all to see.

She couldn't hear the comments, but she could see every face, every expression that lit up in surprise as she passed her fellow students in the halls. She even spotted a few jealous girlfriends casting harsh looks and warning punches in their boyfriend's arms at the sight of them checking Liv out.

Liv fought her blushing face, and forced through the doubt and uncertainty and strove only to keep her head held high. The plan was working. Now for the clincher…

She took off her earphones and slowed down a bit when she saw Garwin, Tyler, Aaron, and their friends. Reid noticed her first, and tapped the others to get their attention on her as well.

"_Holy_--" Reid started, but didn't finish.

Tyler then looked to Reid with amazement and shock, his mouth curved in a large 'O'.

"_Dude_, that's that one chick--"

"--I _know_, shut up," Reid interrupted quickly, smacking Tyler to make him be quiet. Liv couldn't hold in her joy and flattered excitement, and flashed them a broad, suggestive smile as she passed.

"Hi, Reid…" Liv said smoothly, and kept right on walking.

"_Damn_," she heard Aaron Abbott say as she passed. "She is _fine_…"

She could feel their frozen gaze on her back, and she smiled to herself in immense satisfaction. She had won-- he had fallen for her heartbreaker act like a charm. For a few moments, it was bliss.

Until she ran smack into Provost Higgins.

"Miss _Burroughs_, is it?" he said with great annoyance, gazing at her over the rim of his glasses. Liv suddenly felt naked under his stare, just knowing he was looking at the red underwear strings sticking out quite obviously over her hips. He cleared his throat distastefully.

"Miss Burroughs, you _are_ aware that this school has a certain policy concerning…" His voice trailed off. Liv spat it out before she could stop herself.

"It's a thong, Provost Higgins."

"Yes, I know what it is," he snapped back. "It's a disgrace, and unless you want me to suspend you immediately, I suggest you turn yourself around and go fix your uniform as it was meant to be worn… and that includes having your undergarments concealed _under_ your clothes."

Liv scolded herself for her cheek to the headmaster. Suddenly her brilliant plan didn't seem so worth it if she was getting a suspension warning because of it. Shame came over her like a flood.

"Yes, right away, sir," she muttered and hurriedly stepped around the headmaster and went on her way, wanting to get out of his intimidating presence as soon as she could.

She glanced over her shoulder one more time at the boys, who were still talking amongst themselves, seemingly about her since their eyes were glued to the thong sticking out of her skirt. Though their ogling eyes were now only embarrassing to her, it made her flattered smile appear anyway. Those admiring looks made the shopping, the comments, the suicide of her good reputation, and even the suspension warning all completely worth it.

She had made her first breakthrough.

-

Liv shuffled through the corridors as fast she could manage while still being considered 'walking', trying to get back to her dorm room as quickly as possible. That is, until she spotted Rachel and Cassie talking together just down the hall.

Liv looked down at her clothing, knowing they would never understand, and quickly dove behind a corner to hide. She knew it was no use; they were coming right this way, probably heading back to their own dorms, which were in the same hall as her own.

Liv had no choice. She took off running down the dorm hall, fishing through her purse as quickly as she could for her set of keys. Once she made it to her room number, she quickly jammed the slim piece of metal to the lock, but in her hurry she made herself drop them.

"Dammit," she cursed under her breath, rapidly grabbing them from the floor and fumbling for the right one once more.

But she was a second too late.

"Oh… My… God…" she heard the all-too-familiar voice say. It was Rachel. "_Liv_?"

Liv let her shoulders fall, giving in to her defeat. She should have known that luck had abandoned her in light of recent events.

"What are you _wearing_?" --that was Cassie.

Liv turned to face her friends, a sorrowful look on her face. She wanted so badly to tell them some lie, like this all was a practical joke or a lost bet. But she had to keep the image she was striving for, and that meant keeping it with her friends too.

"Don't worry," Liv assured them. "Provost Higgins has already banned me from wearing it."

Rachel and Cassie were both dumbfounded, staring at their new and improved friend with the utmost shock.

"Why?" Rachel asked. "Not for that _Ipswich_ boy…?"

"Why _not_?" Cassie argued without delay.

"It was time for a change," Liv answered honestly.

"Well, _I_ like it," Cassie announced. "It's quite a statement, and I'm jealous that I didn't have the guts to try it first."

Liv sighed in relief, thankful for her friend's support.

"I'll bet Daddy Provost would kill you if he ever saw his daughter dearest in _that_, Cass," Rachel countered.

"Which is probably the only reason why I _didn't_ do it first," Cassie agreed.

Rachel shook her head in disbelief, still stunned by what she was seeing and hearing.

"You changed your entire style… your entire _image_… all for a boy?"

Rachel put her hand over her heart and swooned, letting her head fall onto Cassie's shoulder for support.

"That is _so_ romantic!"

Cassie promptly shoved Rachel off, and turned back to Liv with great interest.

"So did it work?" she demanded. "Did Reid fall madly for you at first sight? God, you're lucky… he's _so_ hot…"

Not waiting for any answers, she quickly fell deep into thought.

"Hmm, maybe _I_ should consider a new look…"

-

Liv closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the dark wooden dorm door as she closed it behind her. She breathed a huge sigh of relief, having held her breath the whole way back to her room. She was thankful Charlie was still in class, and that she could have a moment alone in peace.

"Oooh," Chase suddenly said with approval, once again appearing out of nowhere, making her jump in surprise. "I like the outfit."

He looked her up and down with a feisty smile.

"It's very… how you say…" he walked up close and began to circle her like a vulture as he searched for the right word. "_Radical_."

He ran his hands down the side of her ribs and hips, letting his fingers loiter on the strings of her panties.

"Sort of… _reveals_ a whole new Olivia…"

She shoved past him, hating his touch. It left a bitter taste in her mouth, and a horrid tingling in her spine.

"I'm pleased," Chase admitted. "You're beginning to serve your purpose. But!" He went near to her again. "No date yet, I wager?"

"In case you didn't notice," Liv defended. "I'm dressed in a slut suit! I'm _working_ on it."

He leaned close to her ear.

"Work faster. I'd hate to see you die before your time," --he chuckled wickedly as if amused-- "_Again_."

Suddenly, there was a light knock upon the door, which made Olivia jump again in surprise. She could only stare at the door in stunned silence.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" Chase asked calmly. Liv looked to him, then went to obey. Chase hid around the back of the door, while Liv opened it just enough to peek her head out. Whoever she had been expecting to see, he would have been the last.

"Hi, Aaron," Liv said sweetly through her confusion, forcing her face to grin. Liv didn't know why she had thought Reid would be standing in her doorway instead of him.

"Hey there, sweetface," Aaron said in a voice that made her want to vomit. "That outfit there was asking for trouble—and I don't mean with the Provost…"

"Did you _follow_ me?" Liv spat out in surprise.

"Listen, there's this Halloween party coming up…" He held out a small flyer to Liv, orange with big black letters. "Show up and 'trouble' is just what you might get."

Liv looked down at the flyer, boasting of liquor, scary entertainment and costumes. Then Liv glanced at Chase out of the corner of her eye. He answered by nodding a firm 'yes', commanding her to repeat it.

"Looks like I have be there, then," Liv replied with a sigh.

-

This story is going longer than I expected! Oh well, I guess I'll just roll with it. Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue

Ps. I encourage you all to check out Reid's character myspace page! It's so hilarious and it seems so legit! If you want to find it, go to the Covenant official myspace and click on the 'view profile' link on the character's bio page.


	7. The Halloween Party

A/N: Rating will soon be bumped to 'M'. Watch out. I'm not telling you when though, so you will be surprised when the 'stuff' actually comes about in the story.

_**Read on:**_

**-**

**Chapter 7:**

**-**

"So you're going to the party, right?" Rachel interrogated Liv the next day. Liv clutched her books closer to her chest as they exited English class.

"Yeah, but I'll have to get a costume by tomorrow."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I'm open to suggestions at the moment," Liv replied, fishing for ideas.

"Hmm," Rachel thought out loud as they walked. "I've always wanted to be a pirate girl. I'd go as one if I wasn't already Catwoman."

"No, not a pirate," Liv said indignantly. "Pirates are so over-glorified over here in the US, it's not even funny."

"Hey, don't be hatin' on pirates!" Rachel defended. "Johnny is sexy."

"They're unwashed miscreants with black teeth who roam from town to town looking for the next house to raid, woman to ravish, or man to murder."

"Okay, okay!" Rachel said, throwing up her hands in surrender. "No pirates; got it! What did _you_ have in mind?"

"I don't know," Liv said as she opened her locker and stuffed her books inside. "A witch?"

"Oh, God no. That is SO old school."

"I wish Cassie was here," Liv frowned. "She could help us figure it out. She has such a creative outlook on these kinds of situations."

"You girl's talking about the Halloween party?" said a voice from behind them. Liv turned to see the popular redheaded girl whom Rachel had warned her about.

"I heard Aaron invited you," Kira went on. "Took some guts to do what you did yesterday."

Liv had to admit she was flattered.

"Thank you."

"Save it," Kira snapped, her voice suddenly falling sour. "You stay away from my boyfriend, understand? Hands off."

Liv doubled back in surprise.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know-- he was flirting with _me_…"

"Oh, don't you apologize, Liv," Rachel defended. "Kira's obviously afraid of a little competition."

Rachel got in Kira's face and Liv feared a catfight.

"Competition?" Kira scoffed. "From that grade-scrounging Brit-slut? Give me a break."

"Oh, are you jealous of her smarts and boy-magnetism too? Go ahead, diss her some _more_, Ho-Barbie-- let's see what _else_ your jealous of."

Kira snorted at the name, and turned to Liv.

"I'd watch my back, if I were you," she warned, then flipped her hair snobbishly and stalked off.

"Thank you, Rachel!" Liv said sarcastically. "You just made me the biggest enemy of the most popular girl in school."

"I try," she said with a pleased smile. "I was pretty slick though, right?"

Liv caved and smiled at her friend gratefully.

"You _were_ pretty slick."

-

Liv finally settled on being a brunette version of Jeannie from the old sitcom _I Dream of Jeannie_. It had been her favorite show when she was growing up, hooked on reruns that were bought by British broadcasting stations. To her, Jeannie was the embodiment of beauty. She needed to feel just like that. She gone out that very day and rented one from a local shop.

Rachel had planned her Catwoman costume for weeks, and was quite meticulous in details. She said she took pride in her costumes because of the actress in her. She looked lovely in it.

They hadn't seen a trace of Cassie all day, and finally opted to go onto the party without her. Liv had to admit she was a bit worried for her missing friend.

Once they made it through the door of the house in which the party was being held, Liv beheld it for a moment in awe. The house was huge, with ceilings that seemed to go on forever, and stairs that climbed to the heavens.

"Hey, sexy," she heard a sultry male voice call to her. A man came over to her, a drink in his hand. She had to take a minute to realize it was Aaron, because it was hard to see beyond his large metal face helmet. His chest was bare, save for large leather straps crisscrossing it in a 'X'. He looked like a strange pro-wrestler.

"Wow," Liv commented. "Who are you?"

Aaron seemed shocked and stepped back, posing with clenched fists.

"I'm the _Juggernaut_, bitch!" he said in an English accent.

Rachel immediately giggled at this, but Liv was still in the dark.

"Sorry?"

"Don't tell me you've never seen X-Men 3 before?"

Liv smiled apologetically and shook her head no.

"I'm missing out, I'm sure," she agreed. Aaron smiled back at this. This badly reputed boy didn't seem so bad to her…

"You don't look so bad yourself," he said with a flirtatious smile, fingering her high ponytail. "Maybe later you can grant _my_ wish, huh?"

Scratch that. Liv rolled her eyes and quickly decided it was time to leave.

She spotted Kira, unsurprisingly dressed as a playboy bunny. She was currently talking to Paul, Liv's own ex- boyfriend, who had come dressed as Hugh Hefner—that's right, the owner of the playboy mansion. Liv wondered if they had come together or if it was just coincidence, but shrugged it off. Kira was probably only going after him because she thought it would bother Liv, but Kira had no such luck there.

Then she spotted a couple of the Covenant boys on the dance floor. There was the leader, who looked devastatingly handsome in a pin-stripped gangster suit, complete with feathered hat. His girlfriend came dressed as Marilyn Monroe. The Perry boy had come as a motorcycle daredevil, and his dark-skinned date was a biker chick. But there was no sign of the Sims or Garwin boy.

"Who you looking for?" Rachel asked her over the booming music. "Ohimigod, look at Tyler--" her voice was then overwhelmed with music, so she motioned excitedly to the corner.

There was the Sims boy, Rachel's latest crush, looking extremely cute dressed as the Karate kid, bandanna and all. She figured that's what Rachel was excited about and encouraged her over to talk to him.

But Rachel wouldn't stop pointing, and finally resorted to grabbing Liv's face and forcing her to see what she saw.

Liv's eyes grew wide. Nearby was Reid, dressed discreetly as a zombie. He probably thought he was too cool for costumes. He was currently making out with a girl barely visible behind him, with only red hair to be seen. Liv looked around for the playboy bunny, just to be sure, but Paul was now standing alone. That meant this redhead had to be Kira, for sure.

Liv's face fell determined. She was not going to give up that easily. She had a life to save, and that was hers. She marched right over to where Reid stood, making sure to 'accidentally' bump into him as she passed. She did it so hard he practically fell over.

"_Geez_!" he sputtered, regaining his balance. "Watch it, woman!"

"Oh, I'm dreadfully sorry," Liv pleaded.

It was then she laid eyes on the girl he had been kissing up a storm with. Her jaw dropped.

It was _Cassie_, not Kira.

"Oh, hi, Liv!" she said cheerily, wiping her mouth and acting as if nothing in the world was out of the ordinary. She smoothed her goddess costume nervously. "I didn't see you get here."

"I doubt you've seen much at all…" Liv muttered under her breath, still completely stunned at the sight.

"You know Reid," Cassie put a hand on Reid's chest in introduction. "We're dating now."

The words pierced Liv through the heart, even though she didn't care for the boy. It still hurt that Cassie would do something like this, even after Liv had claimed to have a thing for Reid. Cassie had been one to support her going after him!

Shock took over any other emotion. She felt so betrayed, and she couldn't stand the sight for too long.

_You're_ _killing_ _me, Cassie,_ was the thought that kept repeating in her head. _You're killing me and you don't even know it._

"Congratulations," Liv managed to spit out.

Cassie frowned at this and excused herself from Reid in order to pull Liv aside.

"You don't mind right?" she called above the music.

"What?" Liv acted like she couldn't hear so she could have more time to think of an answer.

"Mind… do you _mind_?" she said with begging eyes. "I know you said you were kind of into him, and you changed your look for him and all, but you always trash him and then you seemed to be rolling with Aaron… and I've liked Reid for so _long_…"

Liv looked in her friend's eyes and saw sincerity. Cassie looked so afraid of losing her friendship. It was heartbreaking.

"No, it's fine," Liv lied.

"Are you sure?" Cassie seemed to want so much for it to be true.

"Yes, of course. I came for Aaron. Go ahead, have fun."

"Thank you!" Cassie exclaimed, hugging Liv tightly around her neck, then went back to Reid. She was smiling like Liv had never seen her smile before.

Liv watched the pair like they were the grim reapers themselves. This was her last day to get a date from Reid. She was screwed… screwed because of her own friend. She didn't dare break up Cassie from him. She looked so happy. She couldn't exactly say the same for him… but then again, when did Reid _ever_ smile?

Liv grabbed a soda from a nearby table and the 'Juggernaut' found her again, right on cue. He slung his arm around her like she was his territory, and whispered in her ear some disgusting things she was thankful the music mostly drowned out.

She couldn't take her eyes off the Garwin boy and Cassie. Why now did she suddenly decide to be brave and go after her dream man while unknowingly murdering her friend? Why did the Garwin boy refuse to notice Liv? Why did life have to be so unjust?

Panic began to overwhelm Liv, and she raced up the stairs of the lush mansion to find a place to hide. The first room housed a couple who were getting 'serious'. The second, thankfully, was empty, and she closed the door after her and sighed deeply.

"Please," she prayed to whoever would hear her. "Just let fate step in… just give me some divine assistance here; I surely need it."

"Hey, why'd you run off so fast?" Aaron asked, peeking in the door with phony concern on his harsh features.

It was official. The heavens hated her.

"Hey," Aaron went on. "You want a ride home?"

"No, I'm fine," Liv replied, sitting down on the bed and folding her hands in her lap. "I just needed to be alone, if you know what I mean."

"I think I just might…" Aaron said, stepping in fully and closing the door behind him. Liv then noticed him click the lock, and her heart jumped in fear, and she scooted away.

"No, I really don't think you do…" she retorted nervously.

**-**

**Wow, I'm having crazy fun with this story. I've always wanted to write a drama-tized story just for my own raw fun, but never had the guts to do it, fearing the fluff and cheesiness. And here it is! As such, it doesn't look like it's going to be ending anytime soon. I figure, you don't mind.  
Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	8. Saving Her Skin

**A/N: Rating is still 'T', but I wonder if this is pushing it… Let me know and I'll change the rating. I haven't written an 'R' story yet, so I don't really know what qualifies.**

**-**

Chapter 8:

**-**

"Come on," Aaron coaxed as he back Liv up against a wall. "You totally were begging for it…"

He grabbed her butt when he said that last part, and it made her jump and gasp at the foreign feeling. His size and already bared chest intimidated her. She wondered how much time she had left before he went for the gold with her. Thoughts swarmed her, considering what she could do. Should she yell for help? She tried to reason with him first.

"Aaron," Liv protested. "This isn't why I came up here…"

"Then consider it an 'added bonus'," he replied quickly, letting his lips graze her neck. "You totally want to rock this…"

Liv felt like she was going to be sick.

"Aaron, cut it out…" she said sternly, like she was talking to a dog.

He let her pass and head for the door, but his disappointment was obvious.

"Com'on," he tried one more time, putting on a charming smile. "I won't bite… unless you ask nicely…"

Liv frowned her disbelief, but couldn't help but be tempted for just a moment. Aaron wasn't exactly ugly, and he had wonderful hair. But the truth of the matter was, she wasn't that kind of girl… and even if she was, she new she was only asking for trouble if she played with fire. If she wanted trouble like that, she might as well throw herself at Reid, or any guy at Spenser, for that matter.

"You're drunk," she reminded. "And I'm going _home_."

"Don't you want to get with a _real_ man?" he coaxed, leaning close again.

"If I find one," Liv shot harshly. "I'll be sure to let you know."

As soon as those words left her lips, she knew that it was a mistake. Aaron grabbed her wrist and yanked her close, angrily getting in her face. She couldn't help but let out a whimper in pain.

"_What_ did you say to me, bitch?"

"Aaron," she pleaded. "You're hurting me… let me go!"

"Oh, I was going to, but now you've really asked for it…"

Infuriated, he grabbed Liv and pulled her onto the bed. She squealed and called out, but he put a hand over her mouth. Struggling was not much use, but she tried anyways.

After a moment or so, her only thoughts were defeat. She was dying tomorrow. Who cared about what happened to her anymore?

Aaron hovered over Liv, his mind engulfed in his malevolent kisses… So much that he didn't even see the man enter the room and casually walk over to the bed. But Liv noticed him, out of the corner of her eye. He stood still, watching Aaron for a moment or so—just long enough for her to wonder if he was going to do anything at all.

Then the man tapped Aaron on the shoulder. Aaron was _not_ very happy with being interrupted.

"Can't you _see_ I'm--" he started, but no sooner had he opened his mouth, that he found a fist hammered into it.

_Reid's_ fist, Liv now saw.

Aaron fell from the bed to the floor, but Reid wasn't done. He naturally walked around to the other side of the bed, and picked up the Aaron's collar, and decked him again.

"You want me to chop your dick off, Abbott?" Reid asked. "_Answer_ me, you horny bastard!"

"I'm not sayin' nothing to any--!" Aaron began, but Reid socked him again, making Liv gasp in shock.

"What was that?" the blond demanded. "Run that by me again?"

Aaron scowled, but was smart enough to get the message.

"I said _no_—"

Another airborne gun found Aaron's face, which was by now covered in blood.

"One more time, lowlife," Reid said harshly.

"I said NO!" Aaron shouted through his pain. "For God's sakes, Garwin, leave me alone!"

Reid dropped him back to the ground, and simply walked out, not bothering to ask if Liv was alright. Liv shook off her surprise and immediately pursued him. Her nerves were rattled and she was shaking so hard that it took a considerable effort to move, but something in her made her follow, and it had nothing to do with her 'task'. It was more like the will to express gratitude.

"Hey!" she called, chasing him down the hall. "Wait!"

"No need for thanks," Reid called over his shoulder, descending down the wide staircase. Liv caught his arm and yanked him around to face her anyway.

"How did you know I was in trouble?" she asked, or more like _demanded_, as she tried to calm herself down. She was still plenty shaken.

Reid simply shrugged it off.

"Was looking for a bathroom, heard you yell. I rescue damsels in distress all the time—it's no big deal. Sometimes I'm just so amazing I can't hardly stand myself."

"Me either," Liv muttered under her breath. God, she hated his asshole attitude. He was as bad as Aaron.

"What was that?" Reid said, looking up to her since she stood on a higher stair.

"I said I thank you all the same," Liv recovered quickly. "I find myself at a loss at how I can ever repay you."

Reid smiled at this.

"What was your name again?" he asked, leaning closer to make sure he heard her. "Or maybe you'd rather be known as 'thong girl'?"

"It's Olivia," she replied. "Liv, to my friends."

"Alright, Liv," he said thoughtfully. "Meet me on Tuesday for coffee at the campus grind. We'll discuss how you can properly repay me then."

Liv could have keeled over right then in surprise. Hallelujah—a date! She was saved!

"What about Cassie?" she spat out before she could stop herself. Her life was being spared here, and she _had_ to go and question it…

"Honestly!" he mocked her British accent over his shoulder as he continued down the stairs. "I'm not looking for _marriage_… It's just one _coffee_!"

Liv smiled at his irony, hinting at the memory of when she had said almost the same thing to him at the dance.

It was good enough for her. As long as they kept it between them, she saw no harm in coffee. Especially if it was to salvage her existence.

Then why did it feel so wrong?

-

Liv sighed as she once again turned on the light to an empty dorm. Charlie sure slept over her boyfriend's dorm a lot, but Liv enjoyed the alone time, so she didn't think to complain.

"I got a date," she said to thin air, somehow sensing Chase was in the room. Maybe it was a spiritual connection to her master, who knew?

But sure enough, he emerged from her bathroom to plop himself on her bed.

"I know," he replied haughtily, inspecting his fingernails.

"What?" Liv spat in surprise. "It just happened tonight—how'd you find out so fast?"

"Liv, don't be naïve," he replied as if bored. "You don't think it was good ol' fate that gave Aaron a sudden burst of lust for you? Or that made Reid just so happen to find you at just the right moment?"

Liv was surprised, to say the least, and blinked back her shock for a second.

"You can do that?" she said in amazement.

Chase simply grinned, staring at her as if there were so many replies, but so little time.

"Why did you help me?" she wondered.

"I suppose," Chase sat up. "I don't see your usefulness ended just yet. You got him to Use tonight."

"What?" she said as she brushed out her hair. "When?"

"The door to you was locked. He had to Use to get in. It's subtle, but a good start, I'd say."

Liv put her brush down and looked at Chase.

"Should I tell him that I know about… about what he is?"

"No rush," Chase leaned back on her bed again, lacing his hands behind his head and stretching out his legs. "All in good time. I'll leave that in your capable hands."

Liv closed the door to the bathroom to change into her nightclothes. She had to admit she was getting a little used to having Chase's creepy presence hanging around. As long as he wasn't touching her in any way, she imagined they could get along just fine.

She saw the shadows of his feet near the bathroom door, and immediately tensed.

"Olivia, dear," Chase said from the other side. "I'm afraid this is the last we'll be seeing of each other for several weeks. Business calls."

"Pity," Liv drawled. "Whatever will I do with myself?"

"I imagine you will get Reid to begin Using. I'll be back to check up on you every once in a few days—but I warn you… no cleverness out of you. I can still pull your plug at any time."

"I understand," Liv said, opening the door and heading to bed. Chase started out the door.

"Oh, yes," he said quickly. "I almost forgot."

He dug in his jacket pocket and pulled out something small and black. He tossed it in her direction. Liv caught it, and a closer look told her it was a swimsuit.

"You start tomorrow after school. Have fun!"

"What?" Liv said, still in the dark, but Chase was already closing the door after himself. "Start _what_? Chase?"

-

**Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue  
PS. I have been ordered bedridden for several weeks. Being on my laptop is really all I can do, so you will get plenty updates from me.  
That's also my excuse for why I went and made character MySpaces for this story, just for laughs. If you want to see their page, comment, or add them, go to my profile where I posted the link to Liv's page, and Reid's too, and just about any other person who appears in this story. _Have fun, and if you comment, please play along as if they were real people!_**


	9. Sink or Swim

**A/N: First off, I know I told you I would have lots of updates for you, but December is always unpredictable, and I started a new job too. Very sorry about that. I also want to thank all of you who are concerned for my health. You are too kind. As for what is wrong, the doctor says I have blah-vasco-something-syncope. Basically means my veins aren't working right and I get fainting spells. The meds they put me on make me tired, and until I get used to them, I had to stay in bed.  
But! I'm much better now and walking upright like a normal human being. Thanks again for the well-wishes.**

**_Now onto the story_:**

**-**

Chapter 9:

**-**

Liv woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. For the first time in a long time she felt as if she was a free woman, without the shadow of Chase hovering around, or jumping out of nowhere with more threats on her life. She felt normal again, like she was just another student in the school.

After class the next day, Liv followed Rachel towards the door. Cassie had not been among them for many days, but rather stuck closer to Reid than his own shadow since the party. Liv watched her leave, harboring no grudge nor spite, but only sadness. She was really starting to miss Cassie.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Liv said gently as she approached her English teacher's desk. Her teacher nodded, and Liv waited patiently as the rest of the students left the classroom and the noise died down.

"Yes," her professor muttered in his usual patient way. Mr. Merridius was her favorite teacher in the entire school, and it only added to his likeability that he taught her favorite subject. He was an old and kindly, fatherly type of man, with thick, square glasses, balding hair and a charming smile.

"I did wish to talk to you. Please, have a seat."

Liv obeyed, setting her book bag on the floor and cowering into the wooden chair in front of his desk. He only said 'have a seat' when he was displeased with her, like the last paper she had written on 'teacher's associations VS. the government'. She was, needless to say, a little nervous.

He took off his glasses to gaze at her directly.

"Liv, you know you're one of my best students in this class."

Liv sat up a little straighter at the compliment.

"Why, thank you, sir--!"

"--Which is why your latest grades have baffled me."

Liv slumped down in her chair again. He was talking about that 'D' she got on the last test. She was rather hoping he might just ignore that.

"Your work used to be so thought out," he lamented. "Now I'm sorry to say, it's just… sloppy. Rushed. Is there a reason for this? Too much partying at night?"

"No, sir," she replied sincerely. "I've just been busy with some things that have come up."

"Like?" he pressed. Liv paused for a moment to choose her words carefully.

"I guess you can say: life issues."

Mr. Merridius sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Everyone has 'issues', Ms. Burroughs, but to overcome them is real dedication. It's up to you to figure out the order of your priorities."

"I'll try harder, sir," Liv promised. He nodded her off.

"Don't forget your poetry assignment is due next Friday," he reminded as she grabbed her book bag.

"Yes, sir," she replied, then took her leave. As soon as she exited the classroom, she stopped and sighed heavily, relieved to be out of there. She hated to disappoint her professor, but at the moment, school was definitely _not_ near the top of her list of priorities. 'Saving her life' and 'trying to keep her friends' filled those top slots.

"Hard day?" said a male voice to her right.

She jumped, something she did often of late, and she knew the usual source. But instead of seeing Chase like she usually did, she instead found Reid with his back leaning against the wall, casually waiting for her by the door to the classroom.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she spat out with surprise.

He casually held up a small piece of notepaper for her to see. A closer look told her it was a sign-up sheet with a list of names. He pointed to one name in particular. _Her_ name. But it was not her handwriting that had written her own name and signed her up for whatever this list was for. It must have been Chase's.

"Any reason you've suddenly taken up an interest in competitive swimming?" Reid asked like she was sitting on a witness stand and he was her prosecutor. Liv decided she would play it off as best as she could, considering that was supposed to be her own signature on that paper. But his eyes were mocking her, knowing quite well why her John Hancock was really written on that line on the sheet.

"Or maybe what you've _really_ taken up an interest in is… _me_," he said menacingly, stepping up closer to her with an intimidating gaze. While his words were daring and a bit suggestive, his eyes were harsh and threatening.

Liv blushed at his forwardness, not knowing what to say. She opened her mouth to speak, to say something—anything—but sound refused to come out.

_The task, Liv, the task!_ she scolded herself. But the pride part inside of her refused to add to this boy's raging ego by admitting that she was joining because of him. The pure satisfaction of the situation at hand was written all over his belittling face, and she despised the thought of stroking his high self-esteem.

Even still, her life was more important than her personal views on the boy, so she gritted her teeth and powered on through.

"You're a very perceptive bloke," she said with as best a smile she could fake.

"Oh, I'm all over it," he assured her with suspicious eyes, as he began to take his leave. "I'm watching you, lady…"

Liv gulped back the bitter taste in her throat, and forced out her unnatural words once more.

"You may watch all you like, Mr. Garwin."

There, that should do it. On that note, she turned her back to him and didn't bother to look at him again. Her work here was done.

Swimming. Why did it have to be swimming? She was good at football, that is, _soccer_… as they called it here. Why couldn't Reid have been involved with that? No, it had to be a wet sport, one that she would have to get half-naked for, and embarrass herself in front of the boy with her lack of grace. This gave a new level to Chase's insanity if he thought she could actually pull _this_ off.

Yet here she was, standing among the other girls who swam like mermaids. Liv spotted Cassie sitting on the bleachers watching the boy swimmers, but that was a normal part of the redhead's schedule now. Rachel was with her, to witness Liv put on her shame show.

All too soon, the coach called out Liv's name. Reid and his friends had long finished their rounds and were standing around in their swimsuits watching other swimmers, but at the call of a familiar name, Reid's head jerked up to match a face to it.

Liv stepped forward and allowed herself to be made into a spectacle, gulping back her nervousness. She gazed down at the water below with wary eyes, as if there were sure to be unforeseen dangers sprouting from it at any time. The coach blew her whistle, and Liv took a deep breath, then dived bravely into the pool.

She couldn't swim well; she knew that. There weren't a lot of warm days good for a swim where she was from, so she wasn't real taken with it. Not to mention she was sorely out of practice. It was all she could manage not to drown herself, splashing about clumsily to the other side where Reid and his friends were cracking up like a pack of hyenas, pointing and laughing incessantly like she was some outrageous comedy routine.

When she made a satisfying lap, she climbed back out, the coach lending her a hand. The lady swim coach was even letting out a few giggles as she did so.

Liv didn't get what was so funny. She swam didn't she?

"What's the fuss about?" Liv said her thoughts aloud.

The coach shook her head.

"I haven't seen a swim like that since I reffed the Special Olympics," she replied, trying her best to stifle her chuckles for the sake of whatever was left of Liv's dignity.

More laughter exploded at this, and Liv sighed, thinking: _I _had_ to ask_…

Well _that_ was a disaster. Why would Chase set her up for such embarrassment? And right before her 'date' with Reid as well… it seemed like such poor planning.

The coach patted her back encouragingly.

"Listen, do you _really_ want to swim in the team?"

Liv tried to appear hopeful, but her cheeks were flaming hot.

"Yes," she agreed with a small nod.

"Alright, hit the showers," the coach commanded. "I'll find you a mentor."

"They have tutors for swim?"

"They have tutors for everything. Especially when you have unruly miscreants on your state champs list that we let squeak through by community service for the sake of the team."

Her coach looked over her clipboard, flipping over a few papers to glance at a list, and frowned with confusion.

"Huh."

"What?" Liv asked in wonder.

"I thought Garwin had already worked off his penalty. Apparently not… Says here he's next in line."

"Yeah, how about that?" Liv smirked knowingly. So _that_ had been Chase's plan all along… the sly dog… he had surely outdone himself with this one.

The coach walked over to the other coach, and they discussed the matter a bit before the male coach finally called Garwin over.

Liv quickly saw this as her cue to leave, gathering her things and heading for the showers before Garwin could throw accusing looks in her direction. He'd find out soon enough, and she didn't want to be around when he did.

Liv stopped in her tracks, then remembering their 'date' tomorrow afternoon. Standing him up was not an option either, as much as she wished it was.

She groaned deeply, dreading it with a strong disdain. This was going to be an interesting date indeed.

-

**Please review.**

**Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	10. The First Date

**This chapter is dedicated to Crickes. She knows why. ;D**

**-**

**Chapter 10:**

**-**

Liv straightened her skirt, smoothed out the napkin underneath her coffee cup, and glanced at the clock on the wall again.

Reid was late.

It was just as well, since she didn't really feel like searching for some meaningless conversation with the impulse-driven asshole, but her own feelings only served to undermine her task. A date was a date, and she had to seem like she wanted to be here, which is why, despite the biting cold, she wore less-than-appropriate clothing for the weather, just to look nice. Statistics showed that boys were seventy percent visual, after all.

Then he finally came plowing through the front door, dragging the outside snow with him. He quickly spotted her, seemed to sigh in frustration, and plopped down in the seat in front of her.

Neither spoke for a moment. He seemed to be evaluating her, something he did often.

"Due to yesterday's startling new developments," he said with a chill in his tone. "Suddenly you are the last person I want to be sitting across from me."

"To be honest," she confessed before she could stop herself. "I feel the same about you."

She slapped a hand over her mouth, fearing she had just made a critical mistake. Trying to mend the situation, she shoved the extra cup on the table toward him.

"I… I bought you coffee. I bought it black because I didn't know what you like."

Reid glared at her, but the disdain somehow seemed to dissipate.

"I like it black," he stated, then took a drink.

"So," he said after a moment. "If I don't like you and you don't like me, why are we here?"

"I _do_ like you," Liv insisted.

"No you don't," Reid countered firmly. "I'm smart enough to know when people don't like me. Hell, even some of my friends don't like me, and I recognize that. What puzzles me is why you would go out of your way to _get_ in my way."

"I don't follow."

He tallied them off on a finger count.

"You change your clothes, you get your friends to put in good words for you, you mess with my swim files--"

"I did _no_ such thing!" Liv said, feeling her anger level rise. "I object to you accusing me without _any_thing to back up your hearsay!"

He looked at her curiously for a moment.

"You're dad's a lawyer, huh?"

Liv looked back with complete confusion at the abrupt change of subject.

"My mum is."

"My dad's one," he said naturally, like there had not just been anger between them in the last second. "Means I'm probably going to be one too."

Liv furrowed her brow in bewilderment. He seemed to have let that argument go rather quickly, and of course, Liv was still cautious as to if he was still angry and just acting casual.

"Is that what you want?" she asked.

It seemed like a simple question to her, but he seemed to be quite flustered by it, and looked at her as if she had just asked him something very, very personal.

"I don't know," he admitted at length. "All of my friends are going to be, so why not?"

Liv felt the need to pursue it. She knew how people worked, and he was avoiding answering directly.

"Is it what you want?"

He looked at her as if offended.

"You sound like my friend Caleb. He likes to ask me things twice too. Bugs the hell out of me."

"Oh," Liv backed off. "I'm sorry. My Dad's actually a detective, so I get that from him."

"That explains it," Reid decided, leaning back in his chair.

"Explains what?"

"That look in your eye."

"What look?"

He paused.

"The look of a person that sees things for what they are. I sensed it the moment I saw you."

He leaned close to her again.

"See, I have this theory that there are two kinds of people. Those that see life for what it actually is, and those that don't. Those that see are very rare, so you can take that as a compliment, I guess."

"Well, then I'm honored," Liv giggled.

"You should be," Reid said with a nod and a shadow of a grin. "It's a big honor."

"Is it now?"

"Hell, yeah."

There was that cocky look again. Damn his stupid self-assuredness. Only this time, it seemed rather… funny. Liv actually enjoyed herself for a second or two there. She shoved that thought aside quickly. She couldn't possibly imagine the disaster actually liking this boy could ensue for her in the future. She had to keep things cold on the inside, and hot on the outside. So why was it suddenly becoming such an effort not to enjoy his company?

"So why are _you_ here?" Liv asked. "If you don't like me, why did you ask me here?"

"I'm trying to figure that out myself," Reid admitted, squinting his eyes at her. "There's something strange about you though. I can't put my finger on it, but it's there."

He leaned back in his chair again.

"Or maybe its just that it seems like you're easy sex."

Liv's mouth dropped in shock.

"I beg your pardon?!"

"A virgin, am I correct?"

"You disgust me more every time you open your mouth, Mr. Garwin."

"See? The truth comes out."

"I'm not sleeping with you."

"Like I'd want you to."

Liv drew back, insulted.

"And why not?" she huffed.

Reid sighed.

"Didn't we go over this already? As much as you try to be, you're not my type."

"And what _is_ your type? Sluts? Whores? Meaningless disposable pleasure toys that will mean nothing to you in the morning?"

Reid smiled for the first time in that conversation.

"Yes, please."

Liv could barely hold back from choking him. She had to take a few moments to pull away from the high anger levels. Again, he just sat there studying her.

"I've decided something, Liv," he said, for the first time calling her by name. "You're quite a puzzle."

Liv gave him a skeptical look.

"Is that _bad_?"

"I gotta go visit John," he randomly announced, jumping up from his chair.

"Who?" she asked with confusion, then saw he was heading for the lavatory, and got his meaning.

She twiddled her thumbs as she waited for him, and gazed around the coffee shop in boredom. She spotted a few people she recognized from school, but since this was the only coffee shop for miles, that wasn't much of a surprise.

As fate would have it, she walked in through the front door just then. That's right.

Cassie.

She was with Rachel, and engaged in deep conversation about something she could catch by sight alone.

This was a disaster. If she saw her here with Reid…

As her first reaction, Liv dove under the table, but it was too late.

"Liv?" Rachel and her stupid mouth. "Is that you?"

"What are you doing under the table?" Cassie asked with perplexity.

"I was…" Liv sat up quickly. "I was… looking for my earring."

"But you're not wearing any," Rachel observed.

"Whoops!" Liv shrugged it off. "I must have lost both! They _are_ quite slippery things. What are you two doing here?"

"Coffee," Cassie replied. "I'm a little behind on homework so I'm going to need the extra fix."

Liv was starting to panic. Reid was going to be coming back any second…

"Here!" Liv said a little too loudly, shoving Cassie her own cup of java. "You can have mine. I'm sure you have a lot of work ahead of you and you shouldn't waste anymore time than you have to--"

"—What's the rush?" Rachel asked. "With all three of us here again, this is a rare moment we should savor a bit, huh?"

"No!" Liv argued. "No savoring; I'm sure opportunities will come again. School comes first, you know that, and I don't want to keep you, so…"

She quickly embraced Rachel, and then Cassie in goodbye. As she was hugging Cassie, she spotted Reid coming from the bathroom, take one look at the girls, and turn and go back inside.

Rachel spotted him too, and grasped the situation quickly, casting Liv a look of surprise. The next look warned Liv that she had better do some explaining later.

"Oh, Cass?" Rachel said roughly. "I think Liv's right, we better hop to that homework."

"Since when do you 'hop' to _any_thing?" Cassie wondered.

"Since now," Rachel said, herding her to the door. "Let's go."

"_You owe me…_" Rachel mouthed before she finally left the way they had come.

As the door closed after them, Liv let out a breath of deep relief, letting her shoulders relax.

"That was a close one," Reid said, coming out of nowhere. Liv jumped, and put a hand over her heart to steady herself.

"You can say that again," Liv agreed. "Thanks for saving my friendship."

"Or breaking it," Reid countered. "Depending on how you look at it."

"I guess."

He grabbed his coat and coffee in preparation to leave.

"I'll see you at tutoring session Thursday at three," he instructed, sounding like a coach himself. "Don't be late."

She nodded.

"By the way," he said on his way out. He grinned and winked. "I like puzzles."

Liv took a moment to figure out what he meant, but when she did, she couldn't help but smile and blush.

-

**Please review.**

**Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	11. Swim Lessons

**Chapter 11:**

-

"_Liv_!" Rachel scolded her friend, once Cassie had gone back to the dorm and Rachel and Liv had a moment alone. "What were you thinking?"

Liv opened the door to her own dorm, expecting it to be empty as usual since Charlie always had places to be with her popular friends. She was surprised to see Charlie sitting at her desk applying make-up. She must've caught her during her layover time between events. Liv gave her roommate a look that told her she wanted to be alone, but Charlie just waved it off.

"Oh, don't mind me, I'm almost done."

Rachel didn't seem to mind the audience, for she was too far into her lecture.

"You went on a date with _Cassie's _man?" she demanded to know.

Liv bit her lip as she sat on her bed, wishing badly to retort something to Rachel like "Gee, Rachel, was it _your_ turn to get Reid?" or "just returning Cassie's favor", but she didn't dare.

"Ooh," Charlie commented, turning around to tune into the conversation. "_Very_ dirty. I have taught you well, young Padawan."

"I did no such thing," Liv insisted to them both.

"--And you took him to a freakin' Spenser _hotspot_ besides!" Rachel went on. "Are you _insane_? Or just suicidal?"

"Rae, listen," Liv said, standing up as well to stop Rachel from ranting. "He just saved me out of a fix and this was how he wanted to be repaid."

"Wait, _he_ asked _you_?" Charlie spat out in surprise. "Wow, this is getting _good_…"

"Shut up the peanut gallery, won't you?" Liv snapped.

"You didn't _have_ to accept, you know," Rachel pointed out. "I'm getting sick of being in the middle of you two. You _both_ are my best friends, and I'm tired of trying to figure out whose side I'm on. I think the only reason I helped you in the first place was because she took him first."

Charlie sighed loudly in disappointment.

"Well, _that_ just takes the scandal out of _everything_," she said, gathering her things to leave. "You are 'Saint Olivia' once more, my dear."

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out," Liv droned cynically, just as the door closed after her.

"What I don't get is… _why_?" Rachel asked with a furrowed brow. "You told me you thought he was an 'incorrigible ass'."

Liv sighed, wishing so badly to tell her friend what was _really_ going on…

Then she thought, well, why couldn't she? Chase wasn't around to mind her anymore, was he? And Rachel was good at keeping secrets, and she had no doubt earned her right to know…

That decided it. Liv grabbed Rachel by the shoulder and sat her down on the bed.

"Rae," Liv said seriously. "I'm going to tell you the truth, but I'm not sure you're going to believe it, but nevertheless…"

"I'm all ears," she said with a nod.

Liv took a deep breath and stood up straight.

"I'm being forced to get Reid to fall in love with me."

Rachel was confused, as was expected.

"What, are you being bribed by an angry ex-girlfriend of his, or what?"

"No, no, nothing like that," Liv assured her. "Something much more serious, I'm afraid. You know I wouldn't jeopardize my own friendship with Cassie if it wasn't."

"So what is it?"

"Well…" Liv wondered if she should tell Rachel the real truth, or a revised version. Would Rachel believe her if she did? Liv settled on only a more down-to-earth way of telling it.

"It's this guy. He says he's going to kill me if I don't."

Rachel gasped.

"Oh, my God, have you reported him?"

"I can't," Liv practically pleaded, trying to get Rachel to understand. "Let's just say he's rather… above the law."

Rachel was dumbfounded, and had a look on her face as if she didn't know what to believe, or what to make of it all.

"Rae, you can't tell _anybody_…"

"I won't…" she promised lamely, her voice low and fading.

"Rachel, are you alright?"

She didn't answer for many moments, so Liv sat down next to her.

"You believe me, don't you?"

Rachel looked at her with eyes swelling with sympathy, and Liv knew.

Rachel then embraced her friend tightly, as if it was going to be the last time she would get to do so.

"I'm here if you need me," she said through sniffs and tears. "I can like, distract her, or take her out when you need time with him, or…"

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Liv said with a reassuring nod. "I appreciate it though."

Rachel pulled back quickly, as if startled by another thought.

"Oh my god, what's going to happen to Reid?" she asked with concern. "Just heartbreak… right?"

Currently, the only thing Liv was concerned about was coming out of this with her life still in tact. She hadn't thought of Reid's fate in ages, which was probably just as well.

"I don't know, Rae," Liv trailed off, not sure if she was lying or not. "I just don't know…"

-

Liv felt a little strange the next day, coming to the pool's locker room after class for her tutoring session with Reid. Her head had been swarming with thought ever since her talk with Rachel, her mind not being able to let go of that nagging question.

What was going to happen to Reid?

He was a human being, after all. Thus far, all she had been concerned about was her own life. Was Reid's life in danger as well? It all gave her a sinking feeling in the bottom of her stomach. Suddenly the thought of her task put a bitter taste in her mouth.

She changed quickly into her one-piece suit that was uniform to all class swimmers, a navy number with red trim, as was school colors. Even though not a while ago she had flaunted all of her traits for all to see on 'thong day', she suddenly felt an overwhelming modesty, which was probably more guilt than shyness.

She stepped out of the locker room to see Reid already in the pool. He, no doubt, had just finished his own practice and had lingered after for hers. The coach was doing paperwork in the bleachers to make sure Reid stuck around to hold up his end of the bargain. Once Liv arrived, he checked his watch and stood up to go.

"I'm going to run these sheets to the office," he told Reid. "If I come back and you aren't here, you can consider yourself off the team."

"That's fine, just fine…" Reid said sarcastically, heading for the ladder to get out of the pool, water dripping off of him as he walked over to where she stood. Liv could only stare at his utter lack of clothing, his wet abs, arms… She was embarrassed to be even this close to him, and discreetly began to scoot aside as they talked, for a reason she wasn't really aware of.

"It's not like I have a _life_ or anything…" Reid finished.

"I mean it, Garwin," the coach said firmly.

Reid nodded to him reassuringly, and that was enough of that. The coach left through the outside door, and Liv was alone.

When Reid turned to her, he smirked at the towel she was holding around herself.

"Well, get in," he said impatiently, motioning to the pool. "I can't tutor you in swim without water."

Liv looked down into the deep end of the pool were she stood, quite apprehensive of the water since her past dealings with it were less than fortunate.

Suddenly Reid clutched the end of her towel, and yanked. She squeaked a bit in surprise, unsuccessfully trying to replace the towels cover with only her arms.

Reid circled around the back of her much like Chase usually did, which made Liv frown in contempt. Then, much to her dismay, he bent down and began to slap her inner thighs and legs, like he was frisking her. She squealed again.

"I dare say!" she called. "What the _hell_ are you trying to pull?!"

He looked up at her with smug grin.

"Just checking you leg muscle," he said innocently. "You don't work out much, do you?"

Liv opened her mouth wide at the question, utterly offended by it.

"Fine, don't answer me," Reid obliged, getting back on his feet. "It's obvious anyway. Get in the pool."

Liv frowned.

"I'd rather not, now that I think on it. Swimming isn't really for me."

"Which is why you're here, using my valuable time," Reid retorted quickly. "So get in the damn pool."

The more he pushed, the more Liv wanted to push back, the more getting in the water seemed like the most horrible idea in the world.

"Absolutely not."

"Get in the _pool_!"

"No!"

Suddenly, he began to make wide, determined, threatening steps in her direction, immediately setting Liv on alert.

"What are you doing?" she asked, even though she already knew. "I'll report you— don't you dare! I mean it, don't--!"

She screamed when he lifted her up, and carried her from the locker room archway to the water.

"You need to lay off the Hostess, cupcake," he joked, then dropped her in.

She squealed all the way down, and splashing into the water surface hard. Reid came in right after her, a perfect dive.

When their heads were both above water, Reid went straight on like it was business as usual, while Liv was still in shock of being thrown in.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled at him when he came near.

"Listen, don't make this harder than it already is, alright?" Reid said. "I'm here to teach, and you have to be here to learn, or you're wasting _both_ our time. You had the chance to leave, and you didn't take it. Now swim."

Liv stood still for a moment, then saw things his way. Sighing to show him her last bit of contempt, she let her body go parallel, and began to swim.

"Wow," Reid said, as if impressed. "I _really_ have my work cut out for me."

Liv immediately stopped.

"Are you going to teach, or not?"

"Alright, here," he said, swimming over to her again. "Let's go in the shallow end."

He led her over to the specified area, then let her go parallel again.

"Okay, don't paddle yet," he commanded, slowly coming near to her again. "Just float."

Liv felt something on her stomach, and realized quickly it was his hand holding her up.

"Just relax, I'm not getting fresh… yet." He snickered at his joke. When she gave him a look, he recovered. "Just trust me."

For many moments he straightened her out, letting her get the feeling of weightlessness in the water. After a minute or so, he told her to kick her legs.

"Just softly now," he corrected her.

She did as she was told, but her mind couldn't help but drift to his proximity, his body very close to hers, his wide hand palming her stomach as if holding up a platter. He slowly moved with her across the shallow end.

"Alright, slowly, cup your hands and turn your arms around like windmills."

She did so, and already she felt like a pro. Very much improved in a short amount of time, to say the least. The boy knew his stuff; that was for sure.

Just as she was starting to get confident, he went a little too fast for her liking, and she lost her balance, even with his help. Her head plunged into the water, face first.

She felt his hands again, this time one at each side of her ribcage, yanking her back up. He overestimated his own strength (or so she assumed) and she ended up with her whole back pressed against him.

"Whoa there," he said. "You okay?"

She wished she could say something, but she had taken a mouthful of water with that fall, and was still choking on it.

He turned her around to face him, a hand on each of her shoulder. The closer he peered at her, the harder she choked as her heart unexpectedly raced. She suspected that even if she had wanted to, she couldn't reply, for having that moment with her entire body against his almost naked one was just too much for her. Her cheeks were hot with shame, and she even felt a little violated, and she was glad she had the choking to cover for it until she could gain back her composure.

"Ahem!" she said when she finally was in her right mind. "There we are."

"You still alive?" he asked a little abruptly. She opened her mouth to answer, but decided against it. There was no way to answer _that_ truthfully…

"Man," he said at length, shaking his head sadly. "You're like tutoring a _rock_."

-

**Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	12. Locker Talk

**Chapter 12:**

-

Liv tapped her fingers on her desk in English class, thinking hard on the poetry assignment due the next day. Rachel was wonderful with poetry; romantic words flowed from her like a bard. For herself, on the other hand, she could safely admit that it was not her strong suit. To her, it was a silly form of writing, with no particular purpose. How could one tell a full story in a few sentences, and make them rhyme as well? It was turning into an obstacle she was finding hard to overcome.

Thankfully she was saved by the bell, and was one of the first to jet out the door that day. She practically bolted to her locker, breathing out a sigh of relief to get out of that class.

She sorted through her books and straightened the pictures of Cassie and Rachel on her locker door, and lingered on the one of her father. She couldn't help but stare at his kind face for a good long time, missing him so badly she could barely breathe. Someday, _some_day she would straighten this entire mess out and make up for lost time with him.

"I see you took the one of me down," said a male voice behind her. Paul leaned over her shoulder to peer at her locker photos closer, and pointed at one. "I like that one of you."

"What are you doing here?" Liv couldn't help but ask. They hadn't spoken or even seen each other since she had broken up with him, and truth be told she hadn't minded one bit.

"Well," he said in his quiet way, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans and jerking his head to flip aside his long black hair. "I don't know... I kind of miss you, I guess."

Liv couldn't help but be taken aback by this, and immediately felt for the boy. She knew him well enough to know that it wasn't really like him to admit his feelings so boldly.

She took a few moments to recover, not really knowing what to say to this. But the fact was, whatever feelings she had possessed for the boy were definitely gone now, and there was no use stringing him along, no matter how good of lines he had.

"I'm sorry, Paul..." she said gently, hoping she could squirm her way politely aside. "But we just didn't work out."

"Maybe we didn't work _hard_ enough... We can start again for real this time."

"I can't," Liv said honestly. "You couldn't have caught me at a worse time."

"That's fine!" Paul assured her. "I'm prepared to do all that it takes... really."

Liv opened her mouth to say something more, but was cut off.

"Hey, McMillan!" an all too familiar voice called out, swinging an arm around Paul's shoulders. Liv sighed at Reid's presence, and tried to ignore her reflexive heart beating at the memory of those swim lessons yesterday, and Reid seeming like a semi-nice person in a too-hot-to-mention swimsuit. He spoke to Paul as if they were longtime chums, even though they had barely ever spoken before. They came from different social groups: Paul was a quiet, slightly 'emo' boy, while Reid was a loud, obnoxious popular. Needless to say, Paul was a little confused.

"Couldn't help but overhear the conversation," Reid went on. "I have this little bet going on with my friend over there..." Reid pointed to Tyler a couple of lockers down. "See, he's got this lover's heart, and, let's face it: I _don't_, but that's not the point..."

Liv folded her arms across her chest, not liking where this was going and wishing intensely that her 'task' would stay out of her personal business.

"Check it," Reid explained, slipping Liv a reassuring wink. "Mickey, I'm going to give you two _hundred_ dollars, in cash, right now... if you just simply walk away from this fine lady standing right here, and don't come back."

Liv's jaw dropped in shock, mostly at Reid's audacity.

"Oh, my God, you can't be _serious_--!" she spat out.

"What do you say?" Reid said, waving a few twenties in front of her ex's face.

Then she looked to Paul, who actually seemed to be _considering_ it, staring at the money with pensive eyes. After a moment, he snatched the bills waving front of his face right out of Reid's hand.

"Fine," he muttered, then left without another word.

"_Ohhh_! _Burn_!" Liv heard Tyler yell, pointing and laughing. Liv blushed in embarrassment at her obviously poor choice in men. Reid seemed quite impressed at his little stunt, yet surprised as well.

"Wow, he walked on the first offer," he observed. "_I_ was prepared to go all the way up to a grand..."

Liv angrily grabbed her history book and slammed it at Reid's shoulder repeatedly.

"How _dare_ you!" she spat flames. "I can't _believe_ you, you _stupid, bloody cad_!"

"Hey! Hey!" Reid put up his hands in surrender. "You should be _thanking_ me! A guy like that _deserved_ to be shoved aside."

"A guy like _what_?" Liv demanded. "A guy like _you_?"

"Hey," Reid defended. "Money, I got... If I want a woman, there is nothing that's going to keep me from her. _Nothing_. Mickey just had no loyalty."

Liv's mood suddenly changed at this proclamation, slightly impressed by the contrast of answers to the same question brought to the test of two men in her life. One had just proven he would take the wrong answer, while the other... well, his mind seemed to be in the right place, but who knew if his actions would back up his words. For a second there, Reid seemed almost... noble.

"So, I got rid of the loser for you," Reid said as if he expected a reward. "Now you need to help me with a little problem I have as well."

Liv was afraid of this, but shoved her personal harsh feelings for Reid aside to amend her curiosity.

"What's that?" she asked.

"I've decided I need a car. I'm tired of Tyler's bitching about sharing his and I wanted something slick to flaunt around."

"So?"

"So, with Caleb and Pogue busy with girlies and Tyler as ignorant as I am, I need some... assistance."

"You don't want to pay a fortune for a lemon just because you have tons of money and the scam-ready dealers will see you coming a mile away."

"In lamest terms, yeah, that's pretty much it. You seem smart-ish-- I mean, you _have_ to be since you're lacking in the looks department-- and you probably know this shit better than me, so... I'd pay you, of course..."

Liv ignored his rudeness, starting to grow calloused to his endless insults toward her. She considered the offer carefully.

"How much?"

"Fifty bucks, and I'll buy you dinner. Great, meet me here after school."

"Hey! I didn't say 'yes' yet!" Liv protested exasperatedly.

Reid lifted his eyebrows expectantly.

"_Well_?"

Liv frowned, but nodded.

"Yes," she conceded at length.

"Well, fine, then. Here. After school. Don't be late."

-

...She wasn't late.

_He_ was. As usual.

Liv sighed and leaned against her locker in fatigue. She was getting tired of playing love games with this jerk boy who obviously wasn't into her. He didn't even have the decency to show up on time to a day's event he himself put into plan.

Finally he came walking silently down the hall to her, jingling his friend's keys in his hand, twirling them around his finger.

"Alright, let's go," he said very abruptly, not even stopping to greet her, but just kept walking down the hall, expecting her to follow. "We're going to start in Salem and see if we can't find anything there. I hope you're prepared for a long day ahead."

Liv began to follow, but stopped suddenly when they passed by an empty hallway, her eyes barely catching the dark figure that was just walking through the dark corridor.

It was Chase. She was sure of it. She could just barely see his ghostly gray eyes staring at her with amusement. But as soon as she saw him, he escaped through a nearby wall, leaving his puppet in stunned shock.

"Hey!" Reid called back to her. Liv noticed that he had stopped walking to see what was her hold-up. "While we're young, huh?"

Liv snapped out of her trance, and rubbed her arms with her hands, feeling a sudden chill roll in. Without reply, she followed Reid down the hall, her thoughts now in a very different place than when she had first started out.

-

**Thanks for the support guys! And if I could ask a favor—my 'Descension' story is feeling a little lonely, just when it's starting to get good. If you haven't already, go pay it a visit, please? Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	13. Car Shopping

**Chapter 13:**

-

"So let me ask you something," Liv said as they drove in Tyler's Humvee up the highway. It was a bit of a boring drive to Salem, so she figured she had better make conversation to break all the uncomfortable silence, seeing as Reid wasn't about to oblige.

"Go ahead," he pressed.

"Why haven't you bought a car before? You would think with all the money you have that you would get _something_…"

"Eh, I don't really see much of the funds on my end. My mom's not usually around to donate."

Liv was taken aback as his easy disclosure of such personal information, but figured it best not to question it.

"So how are you going to buy a car _today_?"

"Borrowed it from the trust like I do everything else. Takes a long time, but I filed for a little extra last month so I could do this. I just got it in today."

Liv was yet still surprised at his honesty. Her detective mind immediately urged her to ask more questions, to dig deeper, but something else told her that doing so wasn't wise when it came to Reid. He would have to confess things on his own terms in his own time. So she changed the subject.

"Do you have a type of car in mind?"

"I thought we'd try the obvious first, like a Porsche or a Vette. I don't want some sissy-looking car, I want something mean, with some muscle."

Liv grinned. How predictable was _he_? She should have known he would say that.

"So I'm guessing minivans are out of the question?"

Reid glanced at her long enough to smirk before he put his eyes back on the road before him.

"Yeah, you'd guess right."

Liv stared at him for several moments. He wasn't quite as average-looking as she had originally thought. Seeing him almost naked up-close and personally at the pool the other day had persuaded her opinions concerning his looks considerably.

"Take a picture," he said abruptly, startling her. "It'll last longer."

"Sorry," she replied quickly, then scolded herself for adding to his raging ego. She didn't speak again for the rest of the trip.

They started at a Porsche dealer, like he had planned, but he decided that they were too common. Same with the Ferraris and the Corvettes. He would insist upon looking under the hood like he knew a thing or two about cars, then decide then and there that it wasn't for him. It was only when they reached the Mercedes dealer that she noticed that when he would lift the hood, his eyes would shine with fire. It was something she hadn't seen for a while, but she immediately recognized it.

He was Using.

For what reason, she wasn't sure. Probably something to do with engine inspection. She'd have to ask him some other time.

"Naw," he turned his nose up at the Mercedes as well. "I'm not feelin' this one."

It was his favorite line to say that day. At the Pontiac dealer: "I'm not feelin' this one." At the Lamborghinis: "I'm not feelin' this one." He didn't really seem to need Liv there at all.

Except when he looked under the hood and found it satisfactory. Then he would look over at Liv directly with expecting eyes. At this, they developed a certain 'sign' system, so she could pass her opinion to him without offending the dealer. If she approved of the car, she would purse her lips and nod discreetly. If she didn't approve, she would scrunch her nose and pretend to itch it. Usually, he immediately accepted her opinion as decision, and they would be off. It was rather flattering, really, that he would drop everything and move on at her given say. It turned the day into a bit of a fun event, making the chore more enjoyable.

"Man," he said, shaking his head as they pulled into the next lot. "Did you see the way that last salesman looked at me? I was expecting him to throw me out."

"I'll bet he gets test-drive-crazy teens all the time," Liv theorized. "You _do_ look like a bit of a hood."

"I should have pulled out my wad of bills and waved it under his nose. _Then_ he'd take me seriously, for sure."

"I'll bet he would."

He pulled into a parking space and turned off the engine, and gazed over the Chrysler lot to see if there was anything that caught his eye. Liv did the same.

"See anything promising?" Liv asked. He answered by taking out his keys and stepping out of the vehicle.

"Hurry up," he said, waving her over to catch up with him. Liv had discovered quickly that Reid was an unnaturally fast walker, excited or not. She had to jog a bit just to keep his pace.

"You!" he pointed at a young salesman in a suit and tie. "Come over here."

Reid took them both over to a sleek-looking sports car, which appeared to be the last one on the lot. It was one of those kinds of cars where the back wheels were bigger than the front, and built with the entirety of the vehicle set before the driver's seat. It was definitely a mean-looking muscle car, like he wanted.

"Pop the hood," he commanded the salesman. "And start talking."

He obeyed promptly, letting Reid look at the engine while he explained the details.

"You couldn't have spotted a finer vehicle. This baby is fully loaded, comes with a V6 Mercedes-Benz engine and two hundred and thirty-two horses. Can go from zero to sixty in five-point-one seconds. The interior is custom equipped with metallic silver inlay, giving it that futuristic chrome look, and also heated leather seating. Available as a coupe or a roadster, with optional rear wing, as you can see on here."

Reid hid his eyes behind the hood, let them flash for a half-second, then closed it firmly and began to walk around it, tapping two pensive fingers to his lips.

At last, he gave Liv that expectant look. Liv looked over the car as well, quite impressed with its design, and gave him the pursed-lip-approval nod.

"Would you like to take it for a test-drive?" the salesman asked.

"No," Reid said firmly. "I'll take it."

The salesman and Liv were equally surprised, but didn't argue the matter for a second.

"Splendid!" the man said. "We can start your custom order now. What color?"

"No ordering," Reid decided. "I want _this_ one."

"But this is our test-drive model, sir. It has a few miles on it already."

"Then give me a deal," Reid insisted. "I'm taking this one."

"Certainly, sir," the man said with a nod. "Let's go sort through the paperwork."

-

"Wow, Reid," Liv commented, taking a seat inside of Reid's new car. "When you want something, you sure get it."

He was too busy dialing a number into his cell-phone to reply.

"Yo, Ty," he said into it. "Yeah, I found one… A Crossfire… I'm leaving your heap of metal at the dealer, so get Caleb to give you a ride to come and get it… Don't take that tone with _me_, Baby Boy... Oh, stop bitching-- I promised the girl dinner... Yeah, the Brit... Alright, later."

He flipped the phone closed and stuck his new key into the ignition of his brand-new sports car, putting on a bit of gas to hear the engine roar.

"Yeah!" he called out in excitement. "Sing to me, baby, sing!"

He petted the dashboard like the car had feelings.

"I'll call her… Lola."

His smile was a mile wide, and she couldn't help but laugh at his boyishness.

"'Lola', huh?" she repeated.

"Mmm, _hells_ yeah. I dated a girl named Lola once. The girl could do it 'til the cows came home."

"_That's_ more than I needed to know…" Liv muttered.

"In light of the rest of my money now burning a hole in my pocket, I'm feeling a little generous."

He slipped her two hundred, cash.

"I couldn't," Liv pushed his hand away. "I had too much fun today to take your money."

"Fine," he said, putting it away and looking over his shoulder to back up the car. "I'll just have to pay you back indirectly."

"How so?"

"We'll hit someplace worthy of this car. You know, with a valet and all that. I want some steak, and I mean _good_ steak."

Liv looked down at her tattered jeans and faded tee.

"I'm not really properly dressed for something like that."

"Ah, no sweat. I'll grab you something on the way."

Liv's heart jumped to her throat. He was going to buy her a dress? He didn't seem like he was doing it out of any romantic intentions. More like the situation called for it. Still, it was a rather pleasant idea. No man had ever done something like that for her before, and it gave her an ecstatic feeling inside.

He drove to the first store he saw that had dresses in the window.

"I know the girl here," he explained as he beeped the alarm on his new car. "She's a cousin of mine. She can hook you up."

"I really appreciate this," Liv tried, but he wouldn't hear it.

"Yeah, whatever. Just get something so we can go."

The cousin, whose name was Jenna, was unbelievably good at her job and figured out Liv's size by sight alone. At Reid's order to make it fast, she swept Liv off into a dressing room with several choices in all colors of the rainbow.

"Green is definitely your color," Jenna decided. "It brings out your eyes. But I like the blue cocktail one on you best."

She turned Liv to the mirror to see herself.

"What do you think?"

"It's lovely," Liv said, putting her hand up to cover the cleavage showing. Some thin netting gave the illusion of a slightly higher neck, but it was still more than she was used to revealing, even if she didn't have a lot to boast. "I like this one best too."

"Don't cover up," Jenna commanded, putting her hand down. "You got it, so show it off."

Liv blushed at the girl's forwardness, feeling a little immodest, but for some reason it gave her a bit of a thrill.

"Reid doesn't usually bother to take his girlfriends out," Jenna chatted on. "Honestly, I'm a bit surprised. He must like you a lot."

"Oh, he doesn't," Liv assured her. "We're not dating. He just wanted to flaunt his flashy new car around, is all."

"Uh huh," she said absentmindedly. "We'll see about _that_. Would you mind if I touched up your make-up a bit?"

She consented, and Jenna happily went to town. Liv got lost in thought of how much of a hopeless case she must be if everyone was always dressing her up all the time like some doll. Didn't she do it good enough herself? Obviously not.

"Take a look _now_," Jenna said, turning her back to the mirror. Her complexion was surprisingly flawless, devoid of any blemishes she had before. Her eyes were a little darker than she would've done herself, but she figured it was best for a night outing anyway. Her plump lips looked cute in some cherry lipgloss, and she rubbed them together approvingly.

"Nice, right?" Jenna searched for praise.

"It's wonderful."

"Com'on," she said, grabbing her wrist and heading for the dressing-room exit. "Let's go see what Reid thinks."

Instinctively, Liv's hand immediately went back up to her chest. She suddenly found herself very much afraid of what Reid might say. Surely he would tease her about her thick thighs and hips, or her bleach-white skin, or something like that.

Then she thought of something even worse. Something too bad to even think on, that made her heart screech to a halt:

What if he _liked_ it?

Either way, she held her breath indefinitely as Jenna pulled her around the corner, stood before Reid sitting on a waiting bench outside, and awaited his reaction.

-

**A picture of Liv in her dress is now up on her Myspace, and on my Covenant album. To visit either, go to my profile and click on the desired link. Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	14. First Confession

**Chapter 14:**

-

"_Sooo_…!" the dress shop girl named Jenna pressed Reid for a reaction to her work, presenting Liv like a magician's assistant would present the result of a trick. "What do you think?"

Liv stood before him, all dressed up by this woman, and wondered if she would ever get to breathe again. Hopefully he would say _something_, and soon.

Reid immediately stood up and grabbed his wallet out of his pocket.

"I think I'm hungry and you girls take too long to get dressed."

Liv's shoulders fell in disappointment. At least he didn't insult her, but he didn't seem to appreciate her much either. Again, she was feeling like his accessory, that stood by his side, looked pretty and was quickly forgotten.

But Jenna wouldn't give up so easily.

"Take a good look, Reid," she insisted, pushing his money back to him. "I'm not letting you out of here until you give me your opinion."

Reid sighed with impatience, and gave Liv a proper once-over. Then, as if seeing her for the first time, his brow raised slightly and he began to circle her, inspecting the rest of her. He frowned, then at last stepped back.

"It'll do."

"'_It'll do_'?!" Jenna exclaimed. "Com'on, she looks great! You're such an _ass_, Reid…"

"Fine," Reid gave in. "You look great. Can we go now?"

Liv blushed immediately, and Jenna at last seemed satisfied. Almost.

"You're not going to go like _that_, are you?"

"_Dammit_, Jenna!" Reid exclaimed. "Just let me eat! I'm not going off to _marry_ the girl!"

"You look like crap standing next to this glorious work. Just wear the tux you wore to the Fall Fest. I still have it here. No charge. Then you can do this night _right_."

She went around the counter and got one hanging off the rack, then ducked behind the counter, looking for something else.

"That reminds me—I still have Tyler's camera from that night too…" She handed it over to him. "Give it back to him for me, will you?"

"Whatever," he mumbled with obvious irritation in his tone, pocketing the digital device and stepping into a dressing room.

Liv took his place on the waiting seat as Jenna sorted through some dresses, putting them into appropriate bags.

"How can you boss him around like that?" Liv asked her curiously. "I thought he doesn't listen to anybody."

"He doesn't usually," Jenna agreed with a laugh. "I'm surprised too. I guess he's in too much of a good mood to argue. You know, the 'buyer's high' and all that. That _is_ a pretty badass car."

After that, Jenna began to have 'bagging issues', as she called them, she enlisted Liv to help her out, so the time spent waiting on Reid to get dressed went by fast.

But all too soon, Liv heard his door open, and his steps walk over. She was almost afraid to look at him, and she kept her back to him as long as she could get away with. Her breath got caught in her throat again, and she spent a few moments scolding herself for acting so silly.

"Alright," she heard him say boldly behind her back. "I'm done."

She had run out of time; she had to look. Slowly, she turned around, casting her eyes at his feet and gradually working her way upward. It was just like she remembered from Fall Fest, with his loose slacks, white shirt, open black blazer and his signature fingerless gloves. Only this time, he wasn't being so jerkish and he looked all the better for it. Somehow, he was just lovelier. Lovely enough to render her speechless.

He acted like he wasn't dressed any different, or anything was out of the ordinary at all, and casually paid Jenna and herded Liv out the door. Liv was a little confused by his apparent deadpan attitude, but let it go.

Once they got back in the car, though, Liv felt like a million bucks. Here she was, in a brand new cocktail dress, in a brand new sports car, with a sufficiently handsome boy and on her way to a fancy restaurant. Not even Reid's bad attitude could get her down now.

-

The place he took her to was a restaurant built right on the sea. A red carpet was spread across the ramp leading up to it, making her feel like a real movie star.

"Hey," he yelled after her, waving her back to him. He pointed to his car. "Stand here," he ordered.

She obeyed, but was a little bewildered by his command.

"What is it?" she asked gently, concentrating on keeping her fluttering dress down in the ocean winds.

"I want a picture of my car," he explained. "And you can't a picture of a nice car without a woman nearby—it's the rules."

She laughed as he clicked the digital camera quickly.

"Is that so?" she replied. "I didn't know that rule."

"It's a guy rule. That's why all the car magazines have flashy women on the covers. Its just law."

With that, he began to make his way up the ramp without her.

"Hey!" she called, running to catch up to him. She hooked her arm in his, and he seemed surprised and even a little annoyed. "This is a girl rule: When we get dressed up like this, we're not meant to walk alone."

He didn't seem too pleased about it, but didn't argue.

He requested a very specific table at the front desk, so Liv gathered he had been to this place before, perhaps more than once.

"I love this place," he confirmed what she had been thinking. He pulled out the camera and took a picture of the ocean. "Every time I come here I want to _buy_ the joint."

Then Liv realized he took a couple of pictures in her direction as well. The view of the ocean cliffs behind her were wonderfully picturesque, so it was hard to tell whether he was taking them of her purposely or not. Perhaps that's how he wanted it, for her not to be quite sure, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment anyway. Maybe she was getting to him after all…

"So," he started a conversation for once after they had gotten all settled in their seats. "Something I've been meaning to ask you…"

Liv was immediately curious.

"Yes?"

He smirked like he was fighting a grin.

"Do you always go off on long drives to unspecified destinations with bad boys like me? You agreed to venture with me off into the unknown today rather quickly."

Liv chuckled.

"My word-- are we concerned for my well-_being_, Mr. Garwin?"

"Don't flatter yourself," he retorted smoothly. "You just seem like an goody-goody girl and going off alone with dangerous boys doesn't seem to fit your stereotype."

Liv grinned, and cast her eyes down at the candle sitting on the center of the table, and tried not to think of how nice his face looked in its dim light.

"You're not a dangerous boy," she argued. "You just fancy you are."

"You don't know that," he countered. "I could've been taking you off to the woods to screw you a good couple times then leaving you for dead."

Liv blushed at his crude language, not being able to find the words to get a good comeback to that.

"Fortunately for you," he added smoothly as he stared out over the ocean. "I needed a car more than I need a good lay."

"Lucky me," she replied snottily.

He looked at her sideways, and shook his head in disbelief.

"You know, I don't get you," he stated decidedly. "I'm still trying to figure you out."

"Maybe I can help you," she agreed with a nod.

"Well, let's start with… why you agreed to doing this…?"

"I'll answer that when you tell me why you asked _me_ in the first place."

Reid nodded in compliance, throwing his hands up in surrender.

"Fine-- You got me! I'm madly in love with you and couldn't stay away."

Liv rolled her eyes, knowing he was teasing.

"I mean, _really_…" she huffed.

He shrugged, waving Liv off with a single hand.

"Hate to break your heart, but it was simply a matter of convenience. 'Right place, right time' kinda shit."

"I see."

"So, your turn," he insisted. "What made you come? You got some major Jones for me, right?"

Liv looked down at that spiderish marking on the crook of her elbow, a small brown mark she had received when she had first become what Chase called his 'Eidolon'. She wished it wouldn't be so hard to get that mark to disappear. She knew she should tell Reid an indubitable 'yes', for the sake of her task and her life. But her inner honest instinct won over, and she answered truthfully.

"I found out about you."

She let it slip out rather clumsily, and he was immediately dumbfounded at her sudden proclamation. She bit her lip as he leaned back, his mouth open and his brows tightly scrunched together. He looked as if he was having trouble comprehending her words, and was trying desperately to wrap his mind around them.

"I have _no_ idea what you're talking about," he lied boldly, but Liv wasn't going to let him off the hook that easy.

"I know what you can do," Liv reaffirmed. "I saw you Use with my own eyes."

Reid immediately ducked his face behind his hand and let out a hissing sound.

"_Geezes_, woman!" he snapped breathlessly. "Broadcast it on _primetime_ while you're at it...?"

-

**Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	15. Getting Her Feet Wet

**Chapter 15:**

-

Reid kicked the dirt as the pair walked down the shoreline, having abandoned the seaside restaurant for a private word. The wind was relentless and a little chilly, but Liv ignored it for the sake of how serious and fragile the current situation was. She walked with her heeled shoes in her hands, her bared feet leaving prints in the sand as she waited for Reid to speak first.

"Who have you told?" was his first question. She could barely hear him above the tide.

"No one," Liv promised.

"How long have you known?"

"Almost two months."

"Which is why you've been following me around?"

"In a way."

Reid nodded, stuffed his hand in his pockets and stared downward as they walked in more uncomfortable silence.

"I knew there was something off about you," Reid said decidedly after a minute. "I sensed it the moment I met you."

Liv said nothing in reply. If only he knew what was _really_ wrong with her…

"There's something else on your mind," he guessed.

Liv bit her lip. Now was he chance, her chance to do what she'd been working at all school year long.

"Well," she said. "I've always wondered what exactly you can do."

He lit up with excitement.

"You wanna see?"

She nodded. He nodded too, but cast his gaze downward in thought. When he looked at her again, his eyes were pitch black, his grin slowly spreading across his face. He took three steps toward the ocean, and looked back to her, holding his hand out for her to take.

"Com'on," he urged.

Liv winced with a chuckle in her throat, and shook her head no.

"I'll ruin my dress."

"No, you won't," he argued like a stubborn child. "It's okay."

He shook his outstretched hand, offering it again insistently. She looked down at it warily, then let her fingers slide into his hold.

He led her gently toward the nighttime sea as if on a casual stroll. Liv looked down at her bared feet, noticing the sand completely dry in a circle around her. Even as they walked into the shallow water, it parted around them like there was some sort of invisible shield blocking it's way into their cocoon of safety. This remained even as the water crashed around their knees, and then their waist and chest. Finally, Reid looked back to see if she was impressed yet, then led her completely underwater.

"My God!" she breathed as she watched a couple of jellyfish drift by them. "This is incredible!"

"Yeah, I know," he said boastfully.

"Do you do this all the time?"

"Every day, in fact…" he joked. "Naw, truthfully? Didn't even know I could."

Liv stalled as long as she could under the water, keeping him Using for a good hour. Finally, he admitted that he was quite tired, and they trudged their way back to land. Back to where the water was just overhead, then at their chest, then at their waist and knees. But as the water was still at her calves, Reid let his eyes return to normal, letting the freezing water crash into her legs. She screamed aloud in surprise, but before she could regain her composure, Reid had shoved her into an oncoming wave.

Complete wet and shivering, she glared fire at Reid, but couldn't fight her amusement within as she yelled:

"_REID_!"

He was too busy cracking up at his own antic.

"YOU!" Liv huffed. "You said my dress wouldn't get ruined!"

"That was going _in_, sister-- you never said anything about coming _out_!"

"Oh," Liv faked her sympathy. "My bad, I'm sorry. Here, let me give you a hug in apology…"

Liv opened her soaking wet arms to him and he immediately backed away.

"No, you _don't_--"

But it was too late, Liv plastered her full weight against him, and he too shared her soggy fate. He tried to shove her back into the ocean, but didn't realize she still had a hold on him, causing them both to fall into the rippled waves.

Liv just laughed hysterically as she looked at her victory sitting next to her, now indignantly shaking the drops off his fingers.

"Serves you right, not keeping your promises," Liv laughed some more.

Reid sighed as another ripple crashed on their backs, and looked hard at Liv.

"Does it, now?" he repeated, giving her an expression that she had not seen on his face before. It was like an amused satisfaction, or even comfort, in looking at her.

"You know," he said decidedly. "You're all right, Liv."

Liv looked away so he wouldn't see her blush.

"Is that your idea of a compliment?" she asked.

"Well, it's the closest I've ever gotten to one."

Finally, she had the composure to look at him again.

"Then I thank you."

"'_Then I thank you'_…" he mocked her accent, bobbing his head annoyingly as he did so.

"Hey!" Liv laughed, and swatted some water at his face. He put up his hands to shield himself, then returned her fire.

-

Their day's adventure only turned more eventful when Reid understandably insisted on not putting their soaking wet selves on his brand new leather seats of his sports car, and ended up buying them both tourist clothes from a pier kiosk. Reid looked utterly ridiculous in a khaki pants and a maroon shirt that boasted 'SALEM' across the front in bold white letters. Liv wasn't much better in a floral cotton dress, a bright yellow towel wrapped over her shoulders to fight the cold wind.

She was glad by the time they made it back to the dorms everyone was more or less in bed so no one would see their silly clothing.

They lived on the same floor, in different halls, so once they reached the top of the stairs, Reid and Liv decided to part ways.

"See you at tutoring," he nodded, then went on his way.

Liv smiled fondly to herself, then turned to head down her empty hall to her dorm. But before she could take even two steps, she heard angered whispers coming from Reid's hall, and immediately turned back around to investigate.

She kept her cover behind the dividing wall, and peeked cautiously around the corner, just in time to see Reid get yanked by the collar by a taller boy, the one Liv recognized as the leader of their special little group.

"Are you _kidding_ me?" she heard the tall one whisper. "It was _you_ Using that much tonight? I thought Chase had come back from the dead!"

Liv stopped breathing when she heard the familiar name. What in the world was it that they had against Chase? And what did Chase have against _them_?

"What the hell were you _doing_, Using like that?" Caleb continued scolding.

"What does it matter?" Reid growled, shoving Caleb's hands away from his collar roughly.

"You _know_ what it matters!" Caleb replied, thrusting an accusing finger at him. "You nearly gave me and the others a heart attack! You shouldn't be Using like that regardless—with you dancing on the edge of addiction… and with your Ascension coming up in a few months… Do you _want_ to lose it?"

"Oh, give me a _break_, Caleb!" Reid rolled his eyes. "When are you going to just let me live my life? If I want to Use, guess what: I'm _going_ to! And quit trying to stop me just because you couldn't stop what happened to your precious _father_."

Liv whipped her head back to her side of the hall, having heard enough. She rushed right past her dorm room, straight to the bathrooms, and found sanctuary inside, not being able to breathe all the while. She closed the door promptly behind her, leaning her back against it, and let herself catch her heavy breath.

Whatever had happened to Caleb's father did not sound like it was a good thing. And whatever had happened to Caleb's father was going to happen to Reid too, with her help. Just when they were starting to get along, things had to get even _more_ complicated…

She gasped as Chase suddenly appeared in a haze of smoke in front of her.

"What's the matter, my dear?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest. "You should be glad— I'm very pleased with how you performed tonight. So much Using in one day! Truly impressive. Reid'll be addicted in no time."

Liv sniffed, now realizing that tears were threatening to escape her eyes.

"Something bad is going to happen to him, isn't it?"

"Well," Chase admitted with fake sadness, cocking his head to the side. "'Addiction' is never a word thrown around _lightly_, now, is it?"

He stepped closer to her.

"Not having second thoughts, are we?"

Liv promptly shook her head no.

"And we _are_ going to finish what we started, aren't we?"

Liv nodded, feeling her hot tears now rolling down her round cheeks.

"We are _going_ to get him to care for you. We are _going_ to get him to Use. And we are _going_… to get him hooked… to _you_… _and_ to Using. Aren't we?"

Liv didn't respond. He was very near her face now, his eyes flaring.

"_Aren't_ we?"

Liv slowly, but finally, nodded.

-

**And now… the _real_ fun begins. (Insert evil laugh here) Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	16. Thanksgiving Plans

**Chapter 16:**

-

He was staring.

Usually when they had swim 'tutoring' together, he would watch her. He would boldly correct her.

But now he was downright staring. He had no reserve about it at all, but rather, stared without shame. Liv felt even more naked under his unwavering gaze than she had ever felt before. She knew she wasn't exactly model-thin-- as he ever liked to point out. She had a pound or two to lose in those broad hips of hers. But even through her flaws, he was looking upon her like she was something worth a second glance.

He had Used a few times to help her swim. She saw him. His methods seemed to help, and she couldn't help but feel satisfied that she had gotten him to Use again. Chase might finally get off her back about it.

Reid's face expressed deep consideration.

"_Now_ you're gettin' it," Reid approved, watching Liv stroke gracefully across the pool. "_God_, I'm a good teacher."

Liv rolled her eyes. She couldn't stand Garwin when he was arrogant.

Liv touched her feet to the bottom of the pool, and looked up at Reid expectantly.

"Are we quite done?"

"For now," Reid waved her off. "We still have a lot of work to do if you're going to compete."

Liv nodded and headed for the pool stairs. His eyes were still on her. She could feel them.

"Oh, and Liv," Reid called after her. "Good work today."

Liv looked back, surprised at his praise. She blinked once, then said:

"Thank you."

She turned to grab her towel off the bleacher bench, as Reid climbed out of the pool too, and walked in her direction. Liv made a point of not looking at his near-naked body. In the pool, the water held most of his modesty, but outside the pool, Liv blushed even being near him. It took a bit of concentrated effort to fight the urge to look.

"Hey, Liv?" Reid piped up again. Liv furrowed her brow in more concentration, wishing he wouldn't speak to her, so she wouldn't have to face him.

"Yes?" she said over her shoulder, acting busy with drying herself.

"Thanksgiving's tomorrow," he stated.

Liv nodded as she wiped her legs down with her towel, answering absentmindedly.

"Yes, I know."

"Got any plans?"

Liv stopped moving, and looked up at him curiously before she could stop herself. She snapped her eyes shut and almost choked at the sight of him, and turned her head away quickly. Why, oh why did she _look_?

"No…?" she said through her mental scolding.

"Good, then I'll pick you up at five."

"Sorry?" Liv spat out in bewilderment.

Reid threw a towel over his shoulder and walked backwards as he talked.

"You. Me. Thanksgiving. Five o'clock. Wear something nice."

"Where are we going?"

"Oh, you're asking _questions_ about where we go now?" Reid said with a smirk, then escaped into the showers.

Liv cast her eyes to the floor and grinned.

He had a point.

-

"Girl, my work here is done," Rachel said, folding her arms. "You have finally learned to dress yourself."

Liv laughed as she spotted Rachel in the reflection of the mirror she was touching her make-up in, and turned to face her friend.

"Goody!" Liv said facetiously. "Maybe I'll learn my ABC's soon too!"

Liv hugged her friend as they laughed together at her joke, and Liv sighed in happiness in seeing her again. It seemed since her so called 'death', she'd been growing farther and farther away from her friends.

Which brought to mind next: What in the world had happened to Cassie anyway? Liv hadn't seen hide nor hair of her for close to two weeks now, save for the occasional English class. Liv put the thought aside for now, and concentrated on tonight. Tonight was Reid's night. Totally and completely. She was going to get him to Use. Any way she could. She was ready to put whatever personal _human_ feelings she possessed for Garwin aside, and get on with the task already.

She was the vixen. She was the femme fatale. She was the strong, powerful woman who was going to live out her life.

She was a treacherous, deceitful murderer.

"I can't do this," Liv whined.

"Do what?"

"You know…" Liv struggled to explain. "The _thing_… that I have to do… to _Reid_…"

"OH!" Rachel exclaimed, finally catching up. "Right… That-- that dead thing."

Rachel took a not-so-discreet step away from Liv, fear in her eyes.

"About that…"

"Rae," Liv asked, her brow furrowing in distress. "You said you were okay with this!"

"I'm just messing with you, Liv!" Rachel laughed. "Of course I'm okay. Who wouldn't be okay with having a zombie friend?"

Liv frowned, and Rachel laughed again.

"You know I don't go back on my word. I got your back, girl! Who do you think I am? Cassie?"

Liv bit her lip. She cast her eyes to the ground.

"Yeah…" Rachel said regrettably. "I miss her too."

"Yo," said a voice from the door. It was Reid. His eyes were narrowed, almost suspicious. Liv quickly panicked, wondering how much of the conversation he had heard. "You ready to go?"

"Yes," Liv said a little too rapidly. "Yes, I'm ready."

-

Liv watched the road intently ahead of her for any sign of where they might be headed. It was somewhere local, since they hadn't hopped on any freeways. So far, in the dark of the night, she couldn't make out any more than that.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going now?"

"To celebrate Thanksgiving."

"Where?"

"You look different tonight. Did you do some shit to your hair?"

"Trimmed it," Liv replied with a sigh. "Don't change the subject. Is there a reason you aren't telling me where you're taking me?"

"Yes," he replied really simply, then said no more. Liv waited for the answer that didn't come.

"So what is it?" she pressed.

Reid hung a left onto a private road, and Liv began to grow nervous. She didn't recognize the area at all.

"Reid. About that thing you said yesterday… about taking me into the woods… and--"

"Taking you out to have my way with you?"

Liv frowned.

"Yeah, that."

"Again, _tempting_— but that's not where we're going."

Liv sighed. Reid pulled his new car into a driveway, and through an open iron gate. A house was lit up in the distance, with cars parked all around. The driveway turned into a bridge, taking them over a dark lake to the front of the house. Reid pulled into an open spot and Used to open the door for her.

"Com'on," he insisted. Liv didn't move.

"What's in that house?"

Reid shrugged.

"Just my boys. It's just a little thing we do every Thanksgiving. Like… tradition."

Liv wasn't fooled.

"So why are there so many cars?"

Reid walked ahead without her.

"Are you coming, or what?"

Liv wasn't pleased that he was insisting on being so secretive, but somehow trusted him. She was dressed up, she was here… Might as well go in.

Reid opened the massive wooden double doors to let her in. Liv immediately heard the shocking sound of many voices, and saw people all around, talking, laughing, eating, everywhere she could see. It was a party, and a big one at that. There were mostly adults, with a kid or two running around. She saw the rest of the 'Sons' hanging out in a corner near the back. What kind of a party was this?

Liv frowned in confusion, and shot her look toward Reid to let him know what she was feeling.

"'Just a little thing', huh?"

She saw more people she recognized, which made her relax: Kate and Sarah, which she knew from geometry class. They held sodas in their hands, had smiles on their faces, and stood around casually with the boys.

Liv also noticed that they too, seemed surprised and confused at Liv being here. Liv felt extremely uncomfortable, still in the dark as to what was really going on. The three other Covenant boys came over to greet their fourth member, and bring about an end to the mystery Reid was playing out.

"Reid!" Tyler called when he noticed him across the crowd. "You made it!"

Reid grabbed Liv's hand possessively and led her through the crowd, seeming determined not to catch anyone's eye. Even when people greeted him as they passed, he ignored all comments.

"Is this the Brit?" Pogue asked with surprise still evident in his voice. "Hi…"

He shook Liv's hand politely and waited for her to fill in the blank.

"Liv," she explained her name for them.

"We meet at last," Tyler stated. "Reid's been going on and on-- OW!"

Reid elbowed Tyler in the ribs to shut him up.

"Yeah, wow," Caleb said with a nod. "You two must be pretty close for Reid to bring you to a family function."

Liv took a sharp intake of oxygen, her eyes went wide, and she looked up at Reid in shock.

_Family_? He brought her home to meet his _family_?

Reid refused to look at her, acting like something on the other side of the room had caught his interest.

"I wasn't really aware that's where we were going," Liv explained truthfully. Caleb nodded understandingly.

"I see. Well, that's Reid for ya. Ever the illusive."

"Oh, shit," Reid muttered very suddenly, ducking his head in a lame attempt at hiding his face. "I didn't think she'd be here."

"Who?" Liv asked.

Reid seemed entirely upset, cursing through his teeth and looking elsewhere.

"My mother."

-

**Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	17. Family Dinner

**Chapter 17:**

-

Liv looked at the older woman again, this time in a whole new light. She didn't even think about Reid having family. For some reason, it disappointed her. Him having ties to this world made this all the more difficult. If only Liv could always see him as she first did: as an asshole who deserved any misfortune that came his way. Now, even standing near him made her feel guilty of crime.

The woman was older, and dressed rather extravagantly, flaunting her money around without care. Her make-up was colorful and too heavy, and she wore a large fur coat that reminded Liv of Cruella De-Vil. A long sequined dress was covering her thin weight under the large coat. She held a cigarette between her fingers, and in the other hand, a drink.

"Reid, darling…" she finally caught up with them. Her voice was coarse and raspy, as if she had smoked one-too-many cigarettes in her lifetime. "Who IS this? You didn't tell me you were bringing a _girl_ to our humble family gathering."

"You're not the only one…" Liv muttered under her breath.

"She's not a girl, she's Liv," he retorted impatiently. "And I'm going to go talk to the guys," Reid looked eager to get away.

"Not until you tell me the name of this _lovely_ young woman you brought with you," the older woman fawned over Liv, brushing her arm. Liv promptly blushed.

"Liv," Reid said, presenting his mother hurriedly. "My mother, Helena. Mother—Olivia Burroughs. Okay, let's go."

"Wait just a minute!" his mother laughed, hanging onto his arm. "I can't believe he didn't breathe a word of—well, he never tells me anything anyway, I suppose, but—"

Reid threw up his hands in frustrated defeat, and started to walk off, only to be stopped by his mother's next words:

"So maybe I can just pry some details out of _you_, hmm?" Helena said to Liv playfully.

"_Mother_…" Reid warned over his shoulder.

"How close are you to him, would you say?" she asked Liv, ignoring her son. "Like, on a scale of one to ten."

"Mother, _don't_…"

"Would you think marriage would be possible for your near future?"

Reid began to really get flustered now, promptly turning and stepping back over to Liv. For the first time, his face seemed red, though his expression only showed anger.

"Please shut up," Reid said pleadingly as he stepped in the line of fire, shielding Liv from the attacks of his mother. She managed to slip in one more question.

"May I ask, are you fertile? Continuing our name is important to us, and since he's our only son…"

Liv left her mouth gaping open, words unable to form. Thankfully, Reid was already dragging her off.

"We'll talk again soon!" the older woman called after Liv.

Liv was appalled, but still managed to find words to speak to Reid.

"That's your _mother_?"

"It's an illness. She's taking medications."

"Hey!" Tyler Sims called to them. "Took you long enough."

"Had a few… obstacles," Reid muttered. Tyler nodded understandingly, snickering his amusement.

"Did your mom ask if she was--"

"--Yeah," Reid confessed boldly, with sadness in his eyes.

"Wow."

"Yeah."

His tall friend, Caleb, grabbed a firm hold of Reid's arm.

"Reid," he said seriously. "We need to talk. You know what about."

"Don't get your panties in a twist," Reid shot back. "She knows."

"She what?" Caleb retorted in surprise, speaking as if Liv wasn't standing right there.

"Yeah," Reid shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "She spotted us Using outside _Nicky's_ that one night. It's cool. Can I have my arm back, please?"

Caleb loosened his death grip on Reid's bicep, and looked at Liv as if for the first time. After a moment or so of staring, he held out his hand to her.

"Welcome to the club," he stated. She took his offered hand gladly.

"It's an honor, truly," she replied.

Caleb seemed convinced that their secret was safe for another day, and relaxed.

"So that's why you've been following Reid around," Tyler said with a nod.

"Dude," Pogue nudged Tyler. "I think he brought her himself."

Tyler frowned in disbelief and snickered.

"Noo…" he shook his head at Pogue's stupidity. His face dropped when he looked at Reid's face. Reid was staring at him as if daring him to say something. Tyler opened his mouth as if he was going to speak, or maybe it was just shock.

"Well, then…" Tyler finally said, a teasing grin growing on his face. "_This_ certainly changes things…"

"Ty, you better check yourself before you wreck yourself…" Reid warned.

Tyler put an arm around Liv's shoulders.

"See, _I_ thought he was just getting free lays out of you, but I guess he must _feel_ a little something for you too--"

Tyler never finished, because Reid shoved violently shoved him to the point where he almost lost his balance. Tyler just laughed at Reid's fury.

"Ooh, _some_one's a little _sensitive_!"

"Broken arms or broken legs, Baby Boy," Reid offered. "Take your pick…"

"You know the rules of my house, boys," a pretty older woman called over. "If you're going to fight, take it outside."

"It's okay, Mom," Caleb called back. "They _aren't_ going to fight…" he said with a strong hint to the both of them.

"And he's not getting 'lays' out of me," Liv thought she'd throw out there for the record.

"Not yet," Tyler countered with a wink.

"Grow up, Ty," Pogue commanded him. Then he grinned and added: "And leave the lovebirds alone."

"Looking for an ass-kicking too, Pogue?" Reid snapped, getting in his face next.

"Boys!" Caleb's mom called over, carrying a pan of something hot in her gloved hands. "Suppertime."

"Thank God," Caleb muttered with a sigh.

-

Liv sat at the long table with the rest of the family, trying to recover every shred of manners her mother had taught her as a child. She crossed her ankles and put her napkin in her lap, and listened as Reid pointed out various family members in her ear. All she managed to gather was that she was sitting on the intense end, where his mother, grandmother, and aunt all sat among the other mothers and Covenant members, along with their respective girlfriends. Reid's father, she noticed, was nowhere to be found. None of the Covenant's fathers were there. She had to remember to ask him about that later.

Dinner went off rather smoothly. No one gave Reid any more hassle for bringing a girl, though it was plain to see it was on the top of everyone's minds. Soon, the last of desserts were being passed around. Reid, surprisingly, was sipping wine, and Liv, sensing she was going to be the designated driver, only took coffee.

"More sugar for your coffee, my dear?" Reid's aunt Gertie asked her. Liv opened her mouth to answer, but Reid beat her to it.

"Oh, she takes it with just cream…" He pushed the sugar bowl back.

The surprises never stopped coming with Reid Garwin. She looked at him to express this.

"You remembered…" she stated.

"I'm observant," he replied. He pounded the table in disappointment, making the fork clink on his empty plate. "I should have been a detective-- _Damn_!"

Liv laughed at that, perhaps a little too loudly, because a few people began to stare.

"I must say," Aunt Gertie announced. "You two make quite a couple."

"She's a find, Reid," his grandmother agreed.

"We're not dating," Reid corrected them bluntly.

"If I had a nickel for every time I heard that," his mother chuckled. "Didn't you say that about Angelina?"

"Ooh, I remember Angelina…" Aunt Gertie chimed in. "Dated for over a six months and we never even knew."

Reid seemed to have a fond memory of this 'Angelina' and chuckled to himself.

"She was an extremely good kisser," he said under his breath.

"_I_ don't care," Liv whispered back, slightly offended.

"So," Reid's mom Helena, who had become quite taken with Liv, directed more conversation toward the young girl, as she loved to do. "How did you two meet?"

"At the Fall Fest at school," Liv replied truthfully. She smiled and looked at her plate. "He astounded me with his beguiling charm."

It was Reid's turn to laugh while Tyler joined him, and neither corrected her sarcastic lie.

All too soon, the mothers began to tidy up the dishes. Liv stood up to help them, but Reid grabbed her hand before she could offer.

"Let's get out of here before they recruit us to clean up," he hissed in her ear. He led her off quickly in the midst of the commotion. "Com'on, I want to show you something."

She could tell he was a little tipsy from the wine, but she allowed him to pull her away. He led her through a couple of rooms, before he pulled open a double door that led outside. Through the door was a stone patio, fenced in by small pillars. A metal table and a few nice chairs were set up, but what struck Liv was the view.

"It's awesome out here at night," Reid explained.

And he was right. The moon shined down on the Danvers' private lake, speckled with lilypads and edged with clean cut grass. The cool breeze made a surrounding bed of thorny red roses dance around the pillared fence.

"It's gorgeous," she agreed.

"Kinda like me," he chuckled lazily. Liv now knew for sure that the liquor was getting to him. Liv rolled her eyes and decided it was time to change the subject.

"So how come no one's father came?"

"None of the fathers usually come to these," Reid replied. "Caleb's father is incapacitated, Pogue's father is in the military, and Tyler's father left when he was twelve."

"What about your father?" Liv asked.

Reid shrugged.

"He's always working. He hates these things anyway."

Liv could tell that she had hit a sore subject. It gave her a little more insight to the mystery that was Reid Garwin. Usually broken homes made for troublesome kids. Maybe that was why Reid acted the way he did. He probably figured if he got everyone to think he was the best thing since sliced bread, then he might start to believe it himself.

Reid leaned on the stone railing of the patio, and then looked at her as if he had just dawned on a brilliant idea.

"Hey, you look good tonight… Wanna screw?"

Liv laughed.

"So we're not dating, but you want to fool around. Typical guy…"

"Yeah, and your point?"

"You're drunk. The point is: In the morning, you're going to wake up and realize you just slept with a clumsy fat girl that you will be too embarrassed to even count as a notch on your bedpost or brag about to your friends."

"You're not fat."

"Are you even listening to a word I'm saying?"

He wasn't.

"Expect maybe for your lips," he went on thoughtfully. "Those are extremely overweight. You should do something about that… start some lip exercises or something… Like this…"

With that, he bent down to her level and kissed her. Not just a peck, either. A long, good one. It took her by surprise, but Reid sank into her, lingering on her mouth and pulling her closer to him. She could only oblige. She didn't know what to think, what to do… She just knew it felt nice. Really nice. Slowly, she let her eyes close, enjoying the wonderful ecstasy…

"I KNEW IT!" yelled a voice behind them. Liv promptly pulled away from Reid to look inside the house, where Tyler was pointing with a triumphant look on his face. Pogue, Caleb, Sarah and Kate were with him. Immediately, they all began to whistle, hoot, holler, and clap for them, and Liv's cheeks grew hot in embarrassment. Even still, she managed to laugh through it.

"Alright, you ASKED for it, Ty!" Reid yelled, charging at him as Tyler ran for his life.

-

**Chapter 17, and they FINALLY have their first kiss. Wow. And here I thought this was going to be a short story. Am I even capable of that? Anyway, please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	18. Getting Too Close

**Chapter 18:**

-

Things had just gone from bad to worse. And yet, times were the more wonderful than they had ever been.

She was falling for Reid.

She realized this as she drove him home from Thanksgiving dinner. He was closing his eyes to rest in the passenger seat of his new sports car, and had entrusted her to drive them both back to the dorms, since he was still a little tipsy from the dinner wine.

How the weeks had passed so quickly. She was just barely getting him to Use. His eighteenth birthday would be here before they knew it. And feelings were now starting to get involved.

This was bad.

But it didn't feel bad. Right now, the stars seemed to be aligned, the moon was shining in all its glory, and everything was beautiful. She couldn't wipe the smile off her face, and she was stealing so many glances at her sleeping blonde passenger that her driving was suffering for it. His hair looked almost white in the moonlight. His very skin seemed to glow. She never realized it before, but he really was quite… lovely.

"Don't you think for a second that I don't know you're staring at me," Reid muttered with his eyes still closed in fake slumber.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Liv replied quickly, locking her gaze on the road ahead of her indefinitely.

She gently pulled his precious vehicle into a campus parking space and turned off the engine. She sighed and flashed over the highlights of the night, and then tapped Reid's shoulder.

"We're here."

He grunted and shifted a little. The first drops of the night's rain began to drip on the windshield, scattered at first, then heavier in seconds. Liv sighed again, in no hurry to walk across the large, rainy and most likely _muddy_ campus in her favorite clothes.

"Reid?" she said through the sound of the rain.

"Mmm."

"There's been something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Mmm."

"It's kind of random, really…"

"No," he said sharply.

Liv frowned.

"But I haven't asked yet!"

"No," he insisted.

Liv pouted. She decided to ask anyway.

"Why did you kiss me?"

"People do it every day, don't get your panties in a twist."

"But why did you?"

"You ask too many questions."

Liv sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get any answers out of him. He just wasn't one to admit feelings or love, if his heart was even capable of such a thing. It was rather frustrating.

But why did she need him to admit anything at all? It would only matters worse. She was on Chase's side, because Chase was the only one who could give her life again. She could only hope she was on a winning team.

"What is Chase Collins to you?" Liv asked before she could stop herself. "Caleb mentioned him in a rather distasteful way."

Reid opened his eyes and looked at her for the first time since they had entered the car.

"Why—did you know him?"

"Not really, no," she stumbled. "I was just wondering."

"He was one of us, except he was insane and freakin' evil. And a murderer. He killed his own parents to get to us, so that he could get more Power to feed his addiction. He'd kill us too, in a heartbeat. Almost knocked off Caleb a couple months ago, in fact. Fortunately, Caleb wiped him out first. Caleb doesn't think he's dead."

Liv bit her lip. She _knew_ he wasn't dead.

"What do _you_ think?" she asked Reid.

"He's gone, that's enough for me. You know, we have to go back to the dorms _some_time…"

Reid liked to change the subject abruptly; Liv was starting to realize that. Nevertheless, she humored him.

"Alright, let's go," Liv agreed. Reid grabbed her arm before she could open the door. She froze at his touch.

"I said _sometime_. I didn't mean _now_."

"Well, what are we going to do?" Liv asked, then regretted how she phrased it, knowing Reid all too well.

"Well, I have a few ideas…"

Liv rolled her eyes. There was a strong chance he wasn't going to remember any of this in the morning, so she figured it was okay to be sharp with him.

"Reid, let me go. I'm tired."

"Is that the _only_ reason?"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Reid," Liv replied to this. "Thank you for a wonderful night."

A flash of black in his eyes and the car door locked. He smiled like a naughty child.

"Don't do this…" Liv whined. "I don't want to take advantage of you."

Reid scooted closer.

"Wait, I thought I was taking advantage of _you_," he countered suspiciously, as he began to kiss her on the neck.

"Stop!" Liv laughed. His mouth tickled. "Stop being all lovely and charming. You're such a _lie_, Reid!"

"So I've progressed from being a liar to being a walking _embodiment_ of a lie. Is that a step up or a step down? I can't be sure…"

His mouth found its way on hers, and they kissed wholly again, this time in the privacy of their cozy little refuge. No friends, no Chase. Just them. It was almost too perfect.

In fact, it was.

Liv frowned and pulled away, very disturbed by the strong feelings in side of her.

"What?" Reid asked impatiently.

Liv opened the door, as Reid was still left in confusion.

"What'd I do?"

Liv got out and ran through the rain with her hands covering her head, and didn't stop, not even when she got indoors. She ran all the way through the halls and up the winding staircases, up to the dorms, and down the hall again to her door. Her face was soaked with both rain and tears. She leaned her back against her wooden door, letting it close behind her, allowing the safe haven of her dorm. Her roommate was gone for the night, thankfully, so there was no witness to her breakdown. Liv was utterly out of breath and crying fully. She let herself slide down to the floor, and thrust her wet face in her hands.

No. She couldn't love him. She couldn't. She had to stop this before it got worse.

"I was wondering when and if it would come to this," Chase said from her bed. She hadn't even realized he was there. He must have been waiting for her.

"The pain, the heartache… it's perfectly natural, my dear. Just so long as you remember your task when it counts."

"I don't want to do this anymore," she breathed. Chase furrowed his brow, and inclined an ear, making sure he had heard right. Or perhaps just challenging her to speak again.

"Sorry, what was that?"

Liv looked up at Chase, broken. Her will was stronger than her fear.

"I said: I don't want to do this anymore."

"Ah," Chase observed, sitting up in his bed and rising to his feet. "So we've developed more attachment than I thought. Interesting."

Suddenly, he jerked a hand in her direction, his Power blackening his eyes. Liv felt her neck tightened, and herself being lifted to her feet by her throat.

"That, sadly, is not an option, my dear," Chase said. "Or would you rather me finish this, right now?"

More tears streaked her face.

"No, _please_…" she choked.

"Would you rather be _MORE DEAD THAN YOU ALREADY ARE?_" he shouted.

"Please," she choked, grasping her neck. "Stop."

"Perhaps you need to be reminded why you are doing this," Chase said, tightening his grip. "Ungrateful girl."

"NO!!" she spat out again. "I'm sorry. I'll do what you ask, just let me go!"

"Of course, you will," Chase said, immediately releasing his hold. "You're such a good little girl."

He stepped closer to her as she rubbed her now hurting neck and frowned disdainfully at him.

"But my trust in you is very shaken, I'm afraid. You'll have to better your worth to me."

Liv was afraid to ask.

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me," he said, stepping even closer to her. "Have you slept with him yet?"

Liv frowned and glared at him for even asking. What did _that_ have to do with anything?

"Of course not," she said, folding her arms indignantly.

"I would hate very much if you were lying to me…" he warned, stepping even closer.

"I haven't!" she insisted, taking a step away from him nervously.

Chase suddenly seized her, putting his hand on her lower abdomen. _Much_ lower.

"What are you--?" she began, but figured it out quickly, as his eyes flashed black. After a moment, he let her go.

"So you're telling the truth. Some trust is restored."

"What would it matter anyway?" Liv huffed, feeling insulted having her personal space so rudely violated.

"It matters a lot, my dear," Chase said, circling around her as if furthering his inspection, his eyes raking over her hungrily. "We wouldn't want you tainted by another Power-bearer, would we?"

Liv gasped as she finally grasped where he was going with this.

"You mean to…" she breathed.

"I suggest the 'easy way'," he said naturally, putting a friendly hand on her shoulder. "The 'hard way' will be so much more painful."

-

**Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	19. Defending Her Honor

**A/N: WOW, I am so sorry for not checking my chapter after I posted. I totally put up the wrong story chapter. Sorry for the mix up.**

**-**

**Chapter 19:**

-

School seemed extra long that day. Everything seemed to take additional effort, even such simple things as breathing or moving. She felt more like a zombie than ever before, walking around in a haze, and not really feeling. Her mind was in a fizzle, not really wrapping around what had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

Liv walked alone in an abandoned hall after school hours, unable to face anyone. She was glad for the sanctuary of such a place, thankful for some moments of the closest thing to peace as she could get. She walked quickly into the showers, and checked each stall to make sure she was still by herself. Very anxiously, she turned on a shower, and got in, clothes and all. The water was freezing cold, but she didn't care.

She sat down on the floor, leaning her back against the cool tile walls. She did not whimper. She did not sniff. She showed no traces of crying except for warm lines of tears that mixed in harsh contrast with the cold rain of the shower. She wrapped her arms around her knees, and brought them close to her chest. Spotting some nearby forgotten soap, she grabbed it greedily, and shakily began to scrub her legs. Still, she did not feel clean. She rolled up her sleeves, and began to scrub her arms. She spotted the small brown mark Chase had given to her. Fervently, she scrubbed away at it, hoping that maybe if she got through the first few layers of skin it would just go away. When it did not, she scrubbed harder. Still, it remained. The more it insisted on being there, the more she began to panic and go a little hysterical.

Suddenly, the shower door opened, and Liv jerked her head up to see who had defiled her safe haven. Reid stood with a confused look on his face, staring at her with sincere concern. He didn't ask what was wrong. He just stood there, looking at her as if pondering the meaning of life. She looked back for a moment or so, shivering in the cold water, but she didn't speak.

She turned her eyes back to the wall ahead of her. She didn't want to see him. She didn't want to see anyone right now.

Finally, he reached out and turned the water gage to a warmer temperature. Then got into the shower with her, clothes and all. He sat down beside her, and put his arm around her.

"This is the third shower I've taken today and I still don't feel clean," she explained in a small voice.

Reid frowned and sighed as if his suspicions had been confirmed. He didn't reply, but he seemed to understand completely, somehow. Then he looked at her, letting his eyes go utterly black. She didn't know what he was Using for, and she didn't ask. She found out soon enough.

She could feel it. First in her stomach, then her chest. A natural high, climbing to her head. He was helping her to feel better. She closed her eyes and let it flow, enjoying every second of it for all it was worth.

"Thank you," she breathed.

-

After they had dried up and gotten new clothes, they went for a coffee. Liv had thanked him for about the hundredth time for what he had done earlier, but he just shrugged it off. "Give me his name," he commanded before taking a sip from his black mug.

Liv smiled in flattery and chuckled in shame, before she shook her head.

"I can't."

Reid looked elsewhere, his irritation growing.

"Why are you protecting him?" he snapped.

"Why are _you_ taking this so hard?" Liv countered just as harshly. "Hmm? Not like you care anyway, right?"

Reid still wouldn't meet her eye, and just sipped his coffee.

Liv drew back when he didn't come back with some smart retort, but instead just sat there in silence. _Did_ he care after all? Finally, he answered:

"Don't even. It has nothing to do with me. It has to do with you and the dude, who shouldn't be able to get away with this kinda shit, and you know it."

Liv didn't answer, just drank her coffee and made some excuse to leave. He didn't argue further.

-

For the next few days, he seemed to have forgotten the matter. He didn't breathe a word about the ordeal, and Liv was grateful.

Until that Wednesday. Liv got out of class, and Reid wasn't there waiting like he usually was. She was immediately worried, searching the halls for his blonde head. She even resorted to looking in the library. She found his roommate, Tyler, there. He hadn't seen Reid all day either.

Finally, in the pool room, she found Reid, though she wished she hadn't. A few students were starting to gather, as Reid was in Aaron Abbott's face, most likely picking a fight. She arrived just in time to see Reid shove Aaron backward.

"REID!" Liv shouted, dropping her books and running to the scene. "No!"

"Get out of my face, Reid!" Aaron said, shoving him back.

"Com'on, Aaron," Reid snapped. "It's not as if you haven't tried it _before_."

"Reid!" Liv said, still sprinting as fast as her legs would carry her around the poolside.

"You can't get a girl the old fashioned way so you just got to take what you want by force," Reid went on. "Pathetic."

"I haven't touched her since Halloween, asshole," Aaron shot back. "I didn't realize her face looked that scary all year _round_."

Reid scowled and got so close to Aaron's face their noses almost touched.

"You're a _liar_."

Liv tried to intervene, putting herself between the two boys.

"Wait, Reid--"

"You want a piece of me, tough guy?" Aaron retorted, not standing down. "All you gotta do is ask."

"Yeah, you know what? I'll even say please."

"Reid, don't…" Liv practically begged, but stopped when she saw Mr. Horn, the swim coach, enter through the main entrance door.

"Like I'd _want_ a piece of a Garwin whore anyway," Aaron slipped in one last comment.

That's when Reid decked Aaron in the jaw. Liv gasped and put her hand on her mouth in shock. Aaron threw the next punch, and in another moment, Reid had tackled him and they were wrestling around on the floor.

"Reid, STOP!" Liv yelled over the commotion. Spectators were now starting to shout and cheer the boys on. Liv tried to stop them, but Reid was beyond control.

"HEY!" Mr. Horn shouted, finally spotting the commotion and running over. Mr. Horn was a brawny military man who always spoke like he was a drill sergeant. He easily yanked the two boys apart. "Garwin, are you kidding-- you could _kill_ him!"

"_Hey_!" Aaron took offense to the teacher's comment.

"Reid," Mr. Horn shoved the boy away. "Detention, _now_."

"But he--" Reid started.

"Don't give me that-- I saw you throw the first punch. Don't you know I can suspend your ass for that, boy? Get out of here."

Reid clenched his fists, holding back from protesting more. Giving Aaron one last cold look, he turned and walked.

"That's not fair!" Liv shouted at Mr. Horn. "Reid was just--"

"Would you like to join him in detention, half pint?"

Liv frowned, and looked at Reid, who was waiting for her answer, anger still all over his face.

"Yes, sir… yes, I would," she replied at last.

"Then both of you get out of my face," Mr. Horn waved them both off. "Abbott, don't think _you_ get off the hook. You're going to help me clean the pool."

Aaron groaned, but left to get the pool net.

-

Detention was held in the upstairs section of the library, usually after hours, so that it was completely abandoned and rather dark and gloomy. Mrs. Denlinger, a thin older woman, usually read a book on the lower level, and checked on the unruly students only when she felt she needed to. She had given Reid an icepack for his blackened cheekbone, then let them be.

Reid and Liv sat next to each other on two small makeshift classroom desks in silence for many minutes. Liv was the first to try conversation.

"Thanks for defending me," Liv whispered to him. Reid, who had been scowling as he held the blue icepack against his face, looked at her and nodded in reply.

"Thanks for keeping me company."

"Well," Liv whispered back with a grin. "It's not every day that a man breaks his face to protect my honor. How's the old mug doing, anyway?"

Reid lowered the icepack and felt his face around with his fingers. Seemingly satisfied, he shrugged and lowered his hands.

"Still gorgeous," he informed her.

"Good," she giggled.

"Quiet down up there!" Mrs. Denlinger called.

Liv cowered and shut up quickly.

"Reid," she said in an even lower voice. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Hmm."

"Aaron wasn't lying. He didn't do it."

Reid looked at her with a strange look, as if trying to make sure she wasn't lying herself. When convinced that she was serious, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Who else is there?" He scowled, thinking of the alternative himself. "It was Paul, wasn't it?"

Liv bit her lip, trying to think of a good excuse other than the truth. Other than admitting that Chase was alive, that he has resurrected her, and was now using her body as a host to do his bidding and bear his children. So she came up with something else.

"I can't tell you."

"What?" Reid hissed. "Why the hell _not_?"

"You'll be suspended next time you throw another punch."

"So what?" Reid shot back. "It'll be worth it."

Liv fought another grin.

"Does that mean _I'm_ worth it to you?" she teased.

Reid shrugged and spat at her very bluntly:

"Well, duh."

Liv's breath abandoned her, and all was silent.

-

**Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	20. The Break Up

**Chapter 20:**

-

Just when the day had promised to be the worst day of her life, with two little words it was suddenly shifted to the absolute best.

"_Well, duh." _

He said it so naturally. So easily he had admitted the world to her. Liv sat for many minutes in stunned silence. He looked elsewhere, as if he hadn't said anything too monumental at all. He leaned back in his chair with his icepack over his eye, groaning as if he had shattered his face in order to gain some extra sympathy.

Liv twiddled her thumbs, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable in the quiet. She didn't know what to say, or how to react.

"God, that stings," Reid complained in a hiss, lowering the ice pack to feel his swollen eye.

"I'm sorry," Liv shook her head with confusion. "Do you just realize what you said?"

"Huh?" Reid took a sideways glance in her direction. "What'd I say? It really hurts."

"Not that…" Liv choked on her timidity. "You sort of… indirectly admitted… that you loved me."

"Did you just drop the 'L' bomb on me?" Reid joked a smile. "Damn, woman, you need to stop obsessing over me. I know I'm pretty, but _com'on_…"

Liv snickered at his eternal arrogance.

"You astound me, Mr. Garwin," Liv muttered.

"Yeah, I've lived with me my whole life and I still amaze me too."

But when Liv looked up into his eyes again, they were no longer that entrancing blue, but rather, a ghastly black. He was Using. Again.

"What are you doing?" Liv said with worry creeping up into her tone.

"I'm healing it faster," Reid replied simply. "Get off it."

"You Use a lot lately."

"_You_ sound a lot like Caleb lately. It's not an attractive habit."

Liv couldn't believe what she was about to say.

"I think you should ease up."

Reid laughed out loud, only to be shushed again by Mrs. Denlinger on the floor below. Reid got up and went to the railing of the loft, and shouted downward:

"Sorry, Mrs. D!"

His eyes flashed with a ring of fire around their already black state, then quickly shifted back to normal as Mrs. Denlinger looked up at him.

"Mr. Garwin, get back to your seat this in--" she stopped talking suddenly, putting a hand on her stomach in a surprise onset of nausea.

"Just…" she wheezed. "Just sit quietly until I get back."

Reid shrugged and turned to leave her sight, mostly to hide his mischievous smile.

"Whatever you say, Mrs. D."

Poor Mrs. Denlinger dropped her book on her chair and rushed out of the room in quite a hurry, leaving Reid and Liv to fend for themselves.

"She won't be back for a while," Reid guessed.

"That was an awful thing to do," Liv stated.

"I don't know what you're talking about. She must've had something unagreeable for lunch. You wanna get outta here?"

"No," Liv said defiantly. "Our detention isn't over. Whether she's here or not, we still have a sentence to serve."

"Whatever," Reid said, slouching back into his chair. He turned to Liv with an instant replay of the cruel smile he had just performed. "But I would say that being alone with you in a dark room is hardly a punishment."

Liv fought her flattered grin.

"How you have changed your tune, Mr. Garwin," she observed with a tease. "It used to be that being even in my presence was torture for you."

"Well," he said, leaning over to her, his nose grazing her right cheek. "That was _then_."

He let his hands creep around her ribs. His lips spoke softly in her ear. Liv sat frozen, letting him tempt her without outward reaction.

"What do you say you and me go behind the stacks over there?" he said. "I'll show you how 'astounding' I can really be."

Liv bit her lip. For a second she considered saying yes, but good sense kicked in all-too-soon. This was a bad idea for many, many reasons… and a lot had nothing to do with Chase.

"I say 'no'," Liv replied finally, though it pained her to do so. It was getting harder and harder for her to deny him. "Please don't ask me again."

Reid pulled away with stunned shock. His face folded into a look of confusion, then offense… then pure anger. Liv knew she had embarrassed him in her blunt rejection, just when he was baring his soul for only her to take. He quickly grabbed his jacket in preparation to leave. Liv tried desperately to mend the situation, putting her hand on his arm and pleading:

"Reid, I'm so sorry…"

He simply slapped her hand away. She doubled back like a shriveling posy. Reid quickly threw his jacket over his shoulder and hurried down the stairs. Liv rushed to the wooden railing, calling after him.

"Reid, you don't understand!"

"No," he growled back, not even turning to face her as he stalked off. "I think I understand perfectly."

Then he slammed the door behind himself, the noise echoing through the empty library. Her wonderful day had just gone back to horrible once more. She was doomed to have a bad half-life for the rest of her miserable un-alive days.

She was alone.

And that's how she remained for the next few weeks. Reid avoided her like the plague. Sometimes he didn't even bother showing up to class. Her swim tutoring had now been abruptly cancelled until further notice. When he happened to be around, he wouldn't even meet her eye. It was like she didn't exist to him anymore.

One day, Kira stood behind her in the lunch line, more than likely on purpose just to share her wonderful news. Liv knew she had something evil to say simply by the cruel grin on her conniving face.

"Hey, Brit slut," she said with a smile. "So I had this rockin' party last night—you know, the one I didn't invite you to? Everybody had way too much to drink… Anyway, SOMEone had a major _hook_-_up_ last night…"

She pointed over to a table in the back, where Reid sat with a long haired redhead. A wide smile was on her face.

"Cassie," Liv breathed. "No…"

Kira breathed down Liv's shoulder, hovering over her back like a vulture. Liv's eyes were locked on Cassie canoodling Reid's neck.

"They were upstairs for _hours_…" Kira hissed. "He practically BEGGED her…"

"UGH!"

Liv very suddenly had a fit of rage directed towards Kira, grabbing her by the hair and throwing her sideways into a table.

Liv was frozen in shock at what she just did, standing still and breathing heavily in her exertions. The commotion she raised caused the entire cafeteria to watch. For a moment, so did Reid. Then he was on his feet and running across the cafeteria over to her.

"What the hell is your problem?" Reid said, yanking on Liv's shoulder. Cassie jumped in too.

"Yeah!" she reverberated. "Jealous much?"

"Can't get it one place, you'll get it another, huh, Reid?" Liv said, her eyes unexpectedly filling with tears.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cassie said with offense, folding her arms. "Reid has always liked me… _You've_ always been the one trying to take him away."

"Get over it, Liv," Reid snapped haughtily. "I won't sleep with you. Move on already… you're beginning to sound a little desperate…"

Liv's mouth dropped in shock. Reid glared knives at her, and threw in the clincher:

"_Please don't ask me again_..."

Everyone around began to whisper among themselves, and Reid herded Cassie away, deciding that was the end of their conversation. Liv couldn't believe his nerve. Now SHE was the one looking like an over-obsessive fool, chasing after Reid and looking like a desperate slut. He was accusing her of what he had been guilty of himself.

A teacher was immediately at Liv's side, and all too soon, she was back in the library loft, serving out detention, which is what she would do after school for the three weeks. It was there she sat alone, having time to collect her thoughts. Tears flowed much too freely over such a worthless man.

-

One afternoon, she got a knock at her door. Opening it revealed Caleb, that bossy friend of Reid's. He looked greatly distressed.

"Liv?" he asked. "Can you come with me?"

Without question, Liv hurriedly grabbed her purse and jacket and followed Caleb down the hall. She didn't bother to ask where they were going; she had learned with Reid that if she was patient, everything would reveal itself soon enough. Like Reid, Liv had to jog a little to keep up with the tall man's wide steps.

"I understand that you and Reid are pretty taken with each other," Caleb said. He sounded very gruff and serious, all business and no pleasure. He was on a mission.

"We were," Liv admitted. "I sort of screwed it up."

"I also understand that you know of our little group. And what our group has the ability to do."

"Yes."

"Reid's usage has doubled since he met you. It has tripled since you and he broke up a few days back. Do you know of the effects this has on us?"

"Addiction?" Liv asked.

Caleb frowned and stopped at a dorm door.

"See for yourself."

Liv furrowed her brow and cautiously let herself in the room. The large wooden door sung open slowly, to reveal Tyler sitting on a small desk chair, Pogue standing by the window, and Reid… moaning in pain on a bed. His wrists and ankles were bound to the legs of the bed with various clothing, and his eyes were clenched shut in great exertion.

"I've helped him block his use of the Power for now, but I don't know how long it will hold him," Caleb explained. "It all depends on him. That's why I brought you here. You can help his will."

Reid squirmed and writhed as if in great pain, groaning and gasping for breath. She didn't even know if he knew she was present. He didn't seem to know anything but pain.

"What's the matter with him?" Liv breathed.

"He's addicted," Caleb answered grimly.

What should have been music to her ears now only came as a sour note. Her task was complete. Reid was addicted.

And now he was going to die.

-

**I am finally out of college. Finals are all over, straight A's, thank you very much. Now I have more time for updates. Yay! So, please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	21. Fighting the Good Fight

**A/N:** **WOW. You guys almost hit forty reviews for that last chapter, which is the most I have ever receiving for a fic chapter before. Give yourself a hand! Now, _read on_…**

-

**Chapter 21:**

-

Liv walked so slowly over to Reid's struggling body, knowing quite well of what she had done. His very pain was her fault.

Addiction. Her life barely seemed worth this now that it stood before her own eyes. In all its ghastly glory, her task lay accomplished on the bed. He still didn't seem to notice her presence, so concentrated on his pain that he was oblivious to the world around him.

"I can't keep blocking his Power forever," Caleb explained for Liv. "It's very much like an addiction to cocaine. The withdrawals could kill him."

Caleb came close to Liv, lowing his voice seriously.

"I wanted you here for when I ease him off the blocker. The first night is going to be the hardest. I need you to help him. If you have any caring for him left in you, please… help him."

Liv then realized that she now had to figure out what side she was truly on. She should just walk away, so that Chase wouldn't get wind of this and send her tumbling down into the underworld faster than a speeding bullet. On the other hand, she did care for Reid. She had plenty caring left in her.

"Are you ready?" Caleb asked her. She wasn't ready. She would never be ready for this choice. But where was Chase? The devil inside her made her wonder if he would _ever_ get wind of this… if it was even possible. He couldn't be everywhere at once, could he?

"I'm ready."

Caleb Used, and Reid let out a cry, his hands clenching the air, before gasping for breath and relaxing. He took a few moments to focus on the ceiling, then those around him. When he spotted Liv, he rolled his eyes, leaned his head back on the pillow and sighed heavily in irritation.

"What's _she_ doing here?"

"She's here to help, Reid," Caleb explained.

"Go get me Cassie," Reid demanded.

Liv doubled back, hurt. Caleb looked at her with pity, then spoke to Reid as if scolding him for speaking blasphemy.

"You're not in _love_ with Cassie."

"And you think I'm in love with her?" Reid scoffed.

All three of the other boys in the room replied in one voice:

"_Yeah_."

Reid snorted in disapproval.

"All of you, leave," he commanded, then pointed at Liv. "Starting with you."

"Just accept it," Liv retorted boldly. "I'm not going, and you're in no condition to make me. Suck it up."

Tyler glanced at Pogue with wide, impressed eyes. Pogue had a similar look on his face. They both looked to Caleb for his reaction, but he just shrugged in reply.

Liv sat on the edge of Reid's bed, and held his hand tight. He seemed to be annoyed by it, but didn't protest.

"I'm sorry," Liv said in a whisper. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

She was apologizing both for denying him and also for driving him to addiction, but he could only assume the first. He shrugged in gruff acceptance, acting like he didn't care one way or another.

"I heard that you started Using three times as much…" Liv said with a small smile. "Since I wasn't with you. Were you depressed?"

Reid shrugged again.

"It adds to the sex experience when you Use."

He meant Cassie again. He was really trying hard to hurt her. Which meant she had probably hurt him pretty darn bad.

"Stop pushing me away," Liv commanded harshly. "I'm going to help you if it kills me to do so."

_And, come to think of it, it probably will…_ she thought.

Reid looked at her with very different eyes then. They were serious, and empty, yet so full of love at the same time.

"I'll stop Using if you tell me to."

Liv was taken aback by this. It couldn't be that simple. Yet, it seemed that way to him.

"Here it comes," Caleb said, glancing out the window at the stirring clouds and the imminent storm. "Here comes the worst of it…"

Liv turned back to Reid.

"Don't make me promises that won't be kept," she told him.

"Who said they wouldn't?" Reid said, grasping her hand now, his eyes now twitching as the worst of the pain began to creep in. He turned to Caleb.

"Put the blockers back on!" he shouted.

"It could kill you!"

"I'm not Using again tonight. The lady doesn't think I can keep my promises. Put the friggin' blockers back on!"

Caleb frowned, but nodded determinedly. He let his eyes fall back. Reid lurched his chest upward in pain, as whatever this 'blocker' was, drove into him. Tyler then went up to Liv, putting his arm around her and gently coaxing her toward the door.

"They'll take it from here," he said. "There's nothing more you can do."

"But--" she started.

"Trust me," Tyler assured her. "You don't want to stick around for this part. It's messy."

It seemed Tyler didn't even want to see this particular event, as he joined her outside the door of the dorm, closing the door firmly after them.

As soon as the door clicked shut, thunder sounded and Reid roared and howled in pain. Crashed and bustling was heard beyond the door, Caleb's shouts and Pogue's frantic yelling. Liv winced at every loud noise she heard. Tyler was equally jumpy, his eyes swelling with sympathy for both Reid and Liv alike.

"Won't this wake every student in Spenser?" Liv asked Tyler above the noise of the pained bellows and fervent hollers.

"Naw," Tyler replied loudly. "Pogue soundproofed the room and what comes out of our mouths to everyone but the Covenant and you."

Liv clenched her eyes shut, empathizing Reid's immense pain. She wished Pogue had blocked her hearing too. Reid's shouts killed her to hear, knowing the torture he was going through just because he made a stupid promise.

"He lied, you know!" Tyler called to her. "He didn't sleep with Cassie."

Liv shook her head in disbelief.

"But Kira…"

"All Kira saw was them go upstairs together. Take my word, I know when he's sleeping with a girl cuz it's all I hear about for weeks. He didn't sleep with her. Not this time, anyway."

Liv was utterly thankful he had revealed this to her, and couldn't begin to express her gratitude in words.

"Thanks… really," she said as best she could. Tyler shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

Soon, they were allowed back inside, but the pain was still quite apparent. Reid looked awful, as if Pogue and Caleb had both kicked the crap out of him. Reid panted heavily, curled into a tight ball grasping his stomach. He was now only clothed in a pair of boxers and a black wifebeater, beads of sweat pouring from every visible patch of skin.

"He's going to be okay for the night," Caleb said, also out of breath. "I'm going to bed. I'll be back first thing in the morning."

"Same here," Pogue reiterated.

"I want to stay with him," Liv announced.

Tyler sighed, but nodded in compliance.

Caleb wiped the sweat from his brow and patted Liv on the shoulder.

"Let's hope this doesn't happen again," he said. "Next time won't be so easy."

-

Reid moaned and groaned, tossed and turned all night. Many times Liv went for water, or an extra blanket, or his various other needs. She tended to him all night like a nurse or a caring mother, while Tyler snored softly in the corner bed. But eventually, she too fell asleep, and woke up with her head resting on the side of Reid's leg and butt, curled up in fetal position to match him. Tyler was long gone, having left a note on the desk saying that he would tell the teacher they both were immovably sick. Liv sighed in relief that the pressures of school would not be added to the stresses of the night before.

"Reid…" she whispered, wondering if Reid was awake yet, even though his eyes were closed.

"Hmm," he replied, still half-asleep.

"How are you feeling?"

Reid opened his eyes and looked down at her, lying with him on his blanketless bed.

"Not bad," he replied with a small dirty grin. She hit him playfully, mostly out of her own embarrassment. "Thanks…" he admitted. "For, you know, all of it."

"I'm just glad you pulled through."

She patted his stomach lovingly as if she was insinuating he was fat.

"Well, Mr. Garwin," she said, sitting upright to go. "If you don't need me to stick around anymore, I'm going to be off."

He grabbed her hand before she could arise.

"I still need you to stick around," he said boldly, then cringed. "Suddenly, I have this really bad pain in my chest… not to mention my throat is killing me… and what's that? My shoulders have decided to flare up… Oh, the agony…"

"Okay, okay," Liv laughed, sitting back down. "You don't have to make excuses."

Liv bit her lip, and stared at him for several moments, choosing her next words carefully. She felt she owed it to him to spit it out.

"I wish I could tell you what happened… the other day in detention."

Reid huffed at the mention of the bad memory, and turned away.

"What's to tell?"

"It wasn't that I didn't want to," Liv said, struggling to explain without having to give it all away. "It just… wasn't the time. I'm in a place in my-- er, _life_, I guess you could say-- where I just can't go doing what I want."

"Whatever," Reid shrugged. "It doesn't matter anyway."

"But it _does_," Liv said, her heart aching for his poor attitude. "It does to some of us."

Reid stared out the window, and then spared her a sideways glance.

"So… when would be the right time?"

Liv sighed loudly, wishing so hard to scream '_now_!' but knowing better.

But the more she thought on it, the more she began to wonder. Why? Why deny him again? Why was she hurting herself by staying away from Reid, only to go home to be tainted by Chase? The thought gave her a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, recalling the awful memories of the first time it had happened. The realization that it could happen again at any time.

Reid sat up, and without a word, put a palm to one of her cheeks and kissed the other, making his way to her ear and neck. Oh, but Reid bore the unspoken guarantee of a experience so wonderful…

"I can't, Reid…" she begged him to stop, but her heart was aching. Something inside her whispered: _'why not? Why can't you_?' He shifted his body closer to her, and she closed her eyes, loving his every touch. She fought her own heart's desire, trying to keep calm, to let good sense kick in, but it wouldn't come. She was beginning to forget her reasoning… her logical inner voice now only saying one thing:

_What if Chase never found out?_

It was a thought that put a smile on her face.

-

**Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	22. Liv's Secret Exposed

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Marasquin, who left me a seriously awesome review on the Covenant 3: The Wood's Hole Warlock, concerning this story. Also, some suggestiveness in this chapter, but not bad. Just wanted to make sure you were warned.

-

Chapter 22:

-

The beauty was beyond compare. Silence overtook all, as the sunlight beamed through the window. The flannel sheets were soft to the touch. The ceiling fan was on its lowest setting, turning the air gently in the room. Still, the air was tight, and close together, but smelled so sweet.

But his beauty overtook everything else. His hair fell in his eyes, bright blue and shining brightly enough to put the sun to shame, before shifting to a mesmerizing black. His pale skin was freckled, much to her amusement, and even his dark tattoos added to his lovely bare skin. He was gentle, which seemed unlike him. Not a word was spoken to break the enchanting silence. Liv felt as if her heart would never be the same. The beauty of it all was truly beyond compare.

"Liv," Reid breathed. "You're glowing…"

"I know… I'm so happy…"

"No," Reid countered with deep bewilderment. "I mean, you're _actually_ _glowing_."

Liv looked at her hand, and sure enough, a soft white glow was emanating from her very pores. It was stunning.

"The heavenly glow…" Liv came to realize, remembering what the Eidolon section of the _Chronicles_ had said about this very subject. It was written up as the cause being 'unknown'… well, it wasn't unknown any longer…

Reid gave her a strange look, straight in her eyes, and opened his mouth to ask the inevitable…

And that's when Tyler walked in.

Liv squealed and fell off the bed to the floor, taking most of the blankets down with her.

"Dude!" Tyler cried, covering his eyes with his hands as if he had witnessed a ghastly sight that would scar him for life. "At least put a _tie_ on the doorknob or _some_thing!"

"There _IS_ a tie on the doorknob, you _bonehead_," Reid replied smoothly, grabbing his boxers off the floor and slipping them on. Tyler looked to see if Reid was telling the truth, and sure enough, there was a school issue tie hanging from the gold doorknob.

"Oh…" Tyler muttered sheepishly. "My bad."

Liv kept herself busy by gathering all the blankets she could to make sure she was properly covered, and searching for her clothes on their mess of a floor. Her cheeks were as hot and embarrassed as Tyler's were. In fact, the only person who seemed to have his head about him was Reid.

Tyler then noticed the modest light coming from Liv's skin, and pointed it out to his friend.

"_Dude_, she's…"

"--I know," Reid interrupted him.

Suddenly, Liv felt a little lightheaded, and felt some strange lurch in her stomach. Her head formed almost immediate beads of sweat. White spots formed in her line of sight.

"Reid," she groaned. "I think I need to see the nurse…"

Reid went to her with a frowning face of concern.

"What 'smatter?"

"Besides the obvious?" Tyler piped in. Reid gave him a warning look.

The pain was so bad now Liv doubled over, almost falling to the floor. Reid rushed to her in the nick of time, scooping her up blankets and all.

"Reid, what'd you _do_ to her?" Tyler asked accusingly, then backtracked. "Wait, I don't want to know…"

"Ty, shut up and open the door."

Tyler did so, as Reid carried Liv out into the hall. He then passed her to Tyler's arms, very abruptly.

"What?!" Tyler managed to spit out at this.

"Take her to the nurse. I have to ask Caleb something."

As Reid ran off from his overwhelmed friend, Tyler called after him:

"Could you ask him to get me a new roomie?"

"I'll be sure to mention it," Reid promised as he turned the corner.

No sooner had Reid left Tyler's eyesight that the glow from Liv's skin disappeared completely.

"Tyler," Liv groaned through her pain, clutching his shirt as he carried her toward the East wing where the Nurse's office was. Fearful tears filled her eyes. "Don't leave me alone, alright?"

Tyler frowned down at her with both confusion and deep concern, but nodded in assurance that he would not.

-

The pain soon stopped after about fifteen minutes of agony. The nurse was flabbergasted and soon shrugged it off like Liv had been faking the entire thing. Tyler, who had been patiently waiting beside her on a bedside chair, felt it was his chance to take his leave.

"No!" Liv said, desperately grabbing for his shirt when she saw him making for the door. "Please, you can't leave me alone."

Tyler slung his book bag (which he had come back to the dorm to retrieve in the first place) over his shoulder.

"Listen, crazy glowy girlfriend of Reid that I barely know," he said impatiently. "I have history homework a millennia old that I have to do before tomorrow or I'm toast. I'll send Reid after you when I see him next."

Fear took firm hold of Liv's chest. The first second she was alone she knew Chase would arrive, most likely with questions which she didn't know how to answer.

"No, you don't understand," Liv pleaded. "Could I help you study? I'm really very good in English--"

"History."

"--That too."

Tyler frowned, but sighed and consented.

"Alright, com'on."

But as they turned the corner to head back to Reid and Tyler's dorm, they were met with the three other Covenant members standing in the hall just outside the dorm door, waiting expectantly for them with their arms crossed indignantly. Liv suspected what they were here for, and gulped in fear.

"Inside," Caleb commanded, opening the dorm door for them both. Liv clutched her hands together in front of her, and stepped inside the room. She kept reminding herself of the side she had chosen… and that was with Reid. It was time to completely cross over to them.

Caleb stood near the window, as Liv sat on the bed in the center of the room. Pogue took the corner near a desk to loiter in, and Tyler sat backwards in the desk chair. Reid sat on Tyler's bed across from Liv.

"What'd I miss?" Tyler asked, and Pogue pulled him aside to explain, while Caleb and Reid interrogated Liv.

"So when were you going to tell me?" Reid asked in a low, angry voice. "After I Descended? Hard for me to be very angry with you on my death bed, right? I knew something was off about you, from the freakin' moment I _met_ you…"

"How did you find out?" Liv whispered in utter shame.

"We're the people those books in the library are written _about_," Caleb explained. "It's our business to know."

"And it's not normal for a person to glow in the dark," Reid added on. "It was a symptom that sounded all too familiar."

"Whoa!" Tyler exclaimed from his conversation with Pogue. "Really? She's a… wow."

Tyler looked Liv over in a whole new light.

"Wow," he said again. "That really sucks for you, Reid."

"Yes, thank you, Tyler!" Reid snapped at him. "Please have a seat and shut up."

"Sheesh!" Tyler said with offense. "Don't be mad at _me_ just because your girlfriend's a zombie out to kill you. Is it just me or did the universe suddenly shift into a b-movie thriller?"

"It always was, Ty, you just didn't notice," Pogue replied.

"Now," Caleb said to Liv firmly. "We know that you have to be serving under Chase Collins."

"We do?" Tyler piped in again. "Damn, I missed out on a lot."

"Do you _know_ how to shut up, Ty?" Reid snapped at him again.

"_Anyway_," Caleb went on with a strong hint for the other boys to cut it out. "Where is Chase?"

"I don't know," Liv answered truthfully. "He just comes to me."

Liv took a good look at Reid, who was seemingly fuming in silence.

"I'm sorry, Reid. He threatened my life; I had no choice…"

"What _life_?" Reid shot back. "You're an _eidolon_, Liv, don't you get it? You're just an organic ghost slave."

"One that chose to side with you," Liv whispered.

Caleb exchanged glances with Pogue at this.

"Not that Chase sounds like the boss man of the year," Pogue said. "But he _does_ hold your half-life in his hands. And with Reid teetering the fence of addiction, why go against him now?"

Liv looked up at him with a broken expression, then looked at Reid. Pogue noticed this and nodded.

"_Ah_," Pogue quickly gathered the answer. "I _see_…"

"In that case," Caleb said seriously, bending down to Liv's level to look at her directly. "I'm going to ask something of you. Would you be willing to spy in Chase for us, and maybe undo the addiction you've helped Reid fall into… in return for us doing everything we possibly can to save you from Chase?"

"You want me to be a double agent?" Liv asked, then thought on it some. At length, she said: "I'll do it."

"It's going to be dangerous…" Caleb warned. "You'll have to go on as if nothing is different, and still abide by whatever he says in order to buy us time. Can you do that?"

Liv nodded, nervousness creeping up on her. Hard times were most definitely ahead. But exchanging glances with Reid, Liv sighed. But she would get to keep Reid, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

-

Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue


	23. Chase Up's the Price

Chapter 23:

-

Liv sighed in the gentle breeze, feeling safe and secure. As long as Reid was near, Chase wouldn't show himself. Reid sat with his back to the tree, as Liv sat opposite him on the other side of the tree trunk.

"You know," Reid said, turning his head so she could hear him better. Liv inclined an ear to listen. "I knew that you were trying to get me addicted all along."

"Of course, you did, Reid," Liv said with fake assurance, doubt in the undertones of her voice. She figured he was trying to salvage his image of stupidity he assumed she possessed.

"I'm serious, Liv, I did," Reid said with an even tone. "I just didn't know what reason you had to want me that way."

"You mean to tell me you semi-knowingly drove yourself to addiction?" Liv frowned in disbelief. "Why?"

"Because you asked me to," Reid said very simply. "And I liked the excuse to Use."

He paused, sighing as if in a fond memory.

"Using feels… good."

"Reid, stop Using," Liv commanded around the tree. Reid groaned and shifted his eyes back to normal, wondering how she knew he was doing that.

"I'm glad you're staying with me so that Chase won't come," Liv confessed.

"And I'm glad you're sticking around to help me fight this."

Reid reached his hand around the tree trunk, feeling around for hers. Once he felt it, he grasped it firmly. Liv chuckled at this.

"Getting mushy on me, Reid?"

Reid crept around to her side of the tree, grazing his lips over her ear.

"Never," he replied. "I need to pee. How are we going to work this out? I forbid you from following me into the men's bathroom."

Liv sighed in disappointment.

"Go," she waved him off. "We're going to have to separate sometime."

"You'll be okay?"

"Just make it quick."

Reid jumped to his feet.

"I'll pee like the freakin' wind, Liv."

Liv laughed.

"Okay, don't hurt yourself," she called as he walked off.

Suddenly a wave of fear swept over Liv, now that she was completely and utterly alone. Her breathing fell ragged and forced. She grasped the book in her hand tightly, holding it close to her chest. She kept an eye out for the first glimpse of Chase. The campus was surprisingly calm, the kids around silently talking among themselves, umbrellas on hand for the threat of imminent rain. An eerie fog rolled in from a distance. But there was no sign of her master anywhere.

"Boo!"

The voice made her jump out of her skin. It belonged to Chase. The sight of him creeping around the tree trunk made Liv stop breathing altogether.

"Ha ha!" Chase laughed. "I scared you… but I guess I do that anyway."

Liv scrambled to her feet in a meager attempt to feel less vulnerable.

"You and Reid seem to be getting along well, I see…"

Liv gulped. Did he suspect?

"Oh, yes," Chase went on, pacing in the grass before her. "I see more than you think I do…"

Liv's chest caved in. He knew. He had to.

"Did you think I wouldn't notice, Olivia?" He beamed an unnatural smile. "Oh… I noticed…"

He slammed his palm on the tree beside Liv's head with a loud _smack_. Liv froze, ready to pee in her pants from the sheer terror

"You got him addicted," Chase explained at last. "I'm so proud of you, Olivia."

Liv couldn't help but sigh in relief. She was safe… for now.

"It'll be his birthday before we know it," Chase said joyously. "But the big question is… Am I going to keep you alive after the deed is done."

Liv was immediately distressed by this.

"But you said--"

"I _know_ what the deal was," Chase said, waving his hand absentmindedly. "But I'm the master here, and I'm upping the price. See, I feel the Grim Reaper breathing down my neck around every corner, of late. And being the bearer of the family name and Power, it is my solemn duty, no, _responsibility_, to bear my line a male child."

Chase went close to her, and Liv instinctively took a step away from him. Her back abruptly hit the tree.

"When the Covenant learns of me being still alive, if they don't already, my death will be _imminent_."

"You said to drive Reid to addiction," Liv said with a fearful frown. "Me bearing you a child was not part of the equation."

"I'm _making_ it a part, my dear," Chase hissed. "Because I make the rules, and you obey. Why? Because you are my slave, and that's what I resurrected you for. You remember that little burst of unexplainable pain you got a few days ago? It'll be nothing compared to what you'll get if you go against me. You will do as I say, and you will not ask questions. You will bear me a child of pure blood or you will not live see next Spring, that's it, goodbye, the END."

Liv gasped at his plain cruelty, and was rendered speechless.

"Nothing to say, my sweet?" Chase chuckled. "A fine trait for a woman."

He leaned close her face.

"Ten o'clock. Be at room three-eleven… Or you die."

He walked back around the tree and out of her view. Liv peered around the trunk to see if he was really gone. Sure enough, he was nowhere in sight.

That's when she burst into tears, dropping to her knees. She seemed to be crying a lot lately. This was getting to be much more than she could bear. Why her? She didn't ask for this. She didn't even mean to die. It was Chase who had made her swerve into that tree on that dark, slippery road on that fateful night. She didn't choose this. It was struck upon her like a bolt of lightning.

She watched her tears fall from her eyes and into the already moist ground. What was she going to do?

"Liv!" Reid shouted with worry, rushing to her side. "What happened? Did he come? _Damn _it! I knew I should have had you come with me into the bathroom!"

Without word of warning, Liv threw herself into Reid's arms, weeping freely into his shoulder. He stiffened, not knowing how to react.

"Reid," Liv sniffed. "Do you remember when you thought Aaron had taken advantage of me? And I told you it wasn't him?"

Reid pulled away to look her in the eyes, as if trying to figure out if she was really serious or not.

"Tonight, he's going to do it again…" Liv said with utter sorrow. "I told Caleb I would do whatever Chase ordered me to--"

"--HELL no, Liv!" Reid shouted, shoving her away from him. "Don't you even _think_ about shit like that!"

"He's going to kill me, Reid," Liv sobbed. "He said so himself. I have to."

"'Have to', my ass!" Reid hollered, spitting flames in his outrage. "No, the only thing you 'have' to do is stay with me again tonight, like we planned."

"Reid," Liv pleaded. "Don't make this harder than the Hell it is already."

"No, no, no," Reid shook his head, then grabbed her wrist and began to lead her back to the dorms. "This is so not going to fly. Not even Caleb would tell you to go through with this, you just wait…"

-

"I'm sorry, Liv, but you have to go through with this," Caleb said with pity, patting Liv on the shoulder sorrowfully.

"No!" Reid protested with shock. "Don't tell her that!"

"I'm sorry, Reid," Caleb shook his head. "But we need more time to figure out how to beat this."

"So what are you still standing here for?" Reid threw his arms up in frustration. "You have four hours, so get to work. Chop, chop, clock's ticking, people."

Tyler shifted uncomfortably, feeling for his friend. Pogue exchanged sympathetic glances with Caleb. Liv saw this as her cue to step forward.

"Reid," Liv said meekly. "I've already come to terms with this, and you should too."

"No!" Reid snapped. "I don't need to come to terms with _shit_! This is _not_ _happening_!"

Liv's eyes swelled with pity, not knowing what to say. She looked to Caleb for help.

"You should just go," Caleb said to her in a low voice. "I'll talk to him."

She nodded and headed for the door.

"No!" Reid yelled when he saw this. Tyler and Caleb grabbed at him to keep from following her. "Let go of me, dammit! _LIV_!"

Liv's eyes were long stained with tears by now, as she looked to him with a broken expression. He wasn't making this any easier.

"Don't you DARE step through that door!" he shot. "You HEAR me?"

Liv opened the door.

"_LIV_!"

And she stepped through. She had never done anything harder in her whole life. She stopped at the ladies bathroom, throwing up two times, before continuing on her way to the dreaded room three-eleven. She tried to give herself some words of encouragement, that if she just got through this night, Caleb and the others would save her. That she just need to do this one thing, and she was saved. But it was of little comfort, since their truth could be easily discredited.

The image of Reid's horrified face haunted her the whole way there. Her whole body shook so bad she could barely stand. Liv looked down at her watch. It was nine fifty-nine.

There it was. That door boasting such evil numbers. They seemed to be laughing at her pain. She wanted to turn and run. Instead, she put her hand upon the silver doorknob.

Liv sighed deeply. This was it. After this, there was no turning back.

It wasn't too late to run. How far could she get before Chase realized she was not coming? How long could she run before he pulled the plug on her life-support? Not far, and not near long enough.

With that, she opened the door and let herself inside. There was Chase, laying around casually with his fingers interlaced behind his head. His grin was wide and taunting, like he was enjoying her torture.

"Hello, Olivia," he said as if this was all so very humorous. She timidly kicked off her shoes and shrugged out of her jacket. It was all going to be over soon…

She sat on the edge of the bed and waited patiently. It was all going to be over soon.

But as Chase crept threateningly near, Liv's eyes fell to a nearby lamp… made of glass… She let Chase come just near enough, she returned his kisses half-heartedly. As she kept him distracted, she let her hand creep behind her… grasping that lamp firmly… then crashed it down on Chase's head. He fell unconscious instantly.

"That's right, Chase," Liv said snottily to her fallen foe. "I'm a slave to someone else now…"

-

Well, I hate to be the break it to you folks, but this story is drawing to a close. ::Ducks from the rotten fruit being hurled my way:: Okay, okay, sheesh, I'm sorry! Don't be hatin'! It's been a good ride, but all good things must come to an end, and all that. Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue


	24. A Final Stand

Chapter 24:

-

Liv exited Chase's dorm, her mind in a fizzed mess. She unknowingly ignored the insistent glowing of her skin, not realizing that it was a telltale sign that Reid was close. She hurried out the door of room three-eleven, feeling relieved and even more panicked all at the same time. In her flustered mind, she almost ran over Reid himself, who seemed just on his way to barge into the room.

"Reid!" Liv exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"What's it _look_ like I'm doing?" Reid shot at her angrily. "I'm here to kick Chase's ass, _that's_ what I'm doing."

"Reid!" Caleb pursued his friend down the hallway, then slowed when he saw the pair outside the door. "Wait, what happened?"

Liv stood a little taller, and said:

"I hit Chase over the head with a lamp," she jerked her head at the door behind her. "He's just in there, out cold."

Caleb frowned in concern. She had just made their time get cut short.

"That was really foolish," Caleb scolded, but sounded a little relieved himself. After a moment, he thought quickly, and began to give new orders.

"Reid, let's get her out of here, _now_."

"Caleb," Reid said with obvious worry. "He's bound to wake up sometime—what's your plan?"

"I'm getting the others and we're going to find out break her ties to Chase, God willing. Stall until then—hide out at the house. _GO_!"

"Gone," Reid promised, grabbing Liv by the hand and leading her off at full speed. Together they burst through the front door of Spenser, sprinting across the nighttime campus toward Reid's car. The grass was wet and spongy beneath her feet, the rain having paused just long enough to allow them passage to Reid's car, before it started up again.

"Ah!" Liv called out in pain, the onset so sudden and so abrupt that she fell to her knees. Whatever Chase had done to her a few days ago, it was back.

"Not now, babe," Reid insisted, scooping her up in his arms and finishing the run to the car. He clicked the top of his convertible down as he ran, then lifted her over the car door and down into the seat. He then jumped into the driver's seat like they were escaping a bank robbery.

"Reid!" Liv cried through her heavy exertions. "Ah! It hurts so bad!"

"Dammit, he's rescinding you," Reid cursed, peeling out of the parking space and speeding off down the highway.

"Rescinding? What's that mean?" Liv groaned.

"Rescinding, you know," Reid said with a stressed tone, checking both ways before turning onto another busy street. "Withdrawing you-- Sending you back to the underworld."

"He's killing me," Liv gathered.

"Technically, you're already dead."

Garwin Manor was only five miles up the road. He would have her there in no time. She would be okay. She had to be.

"Oh…" Liv moaned, her voice going weaker. "I can't take this much longer…"

As her eyes began to droop closed, Reid placed his palm upon her cheek while trying to pay attention to the road at the same time.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Don't close your eyes… Stay with me!"

But the farther they drove, the more Liv could feel her bones deteriorate inside her. Her head felt ready to cave in, while her chest was threatening to explode. The glow in her skin began to fade.

"You have to turn around," Liv announced.

"What?" Reid spat out in surprise. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Turn back, Reid," Liv said a little firmer, grasping his sleeve and panting for breath. "_Please_."

Reid sighed and very reluctantly made a sharp U-turn, and headed on back to the Spenser campus.

"You know that he's going to be there," Reid warned her. "As soon as we step out of this car, he's going to be waiting--"

"I have to face him sometime, Reid."

"But why _now_?" Reid whined. "Can't we just--"

"—I love you, Reid."

Reid stopped talking, knowing what she was trying to say.

"This isn't the end for you, Liv," Reid informed her sternly. "Don't you get all stupid and act like it is."

"I'm not afraid of him anymore," Liv said bravely. "Because I'm not afraid of death. Which is ironic, because I only felt this way after I found something truly worth living for."

"Dammit, Liv, shut _up_!" Reid snapped. "We're going to get through this. We're going to figure this out-- _GEEZ_!"

Liv screamed and covered her head with her hands. Reid slammed on the brake when Chase crashed down on the hood of Reid's brand new sport's car, in perfect balance as Reid skidded on the road from hitting the brakes so hard, bumping on a curb before swerving onto Spenser's grass. Chase jumped off the car casually before it came to a full stop.

"Ooo, I do _love_ doing that," Chase admitted fondly.

"Stay in the car," Reid commanded Liv, as he opened the door and stepped out.

"Hey there, Big G," Chase said tauntingly, smirking a bit as Reid came near. Reid's eyes flared with Using, angry rings of fire pulsing through his irises. He stormed up to Chase with malicious intent.

"That's it," Chase egged on. "_Add_ to your addiction; go ahead. It feels great… believe me, I know."

"What's up, Chase?" Reid retorted through his teeth. "How's the head?"

Chase laughed and rubbed the spot in his hair where Liv had hit him with a bedside lamp.

"Been better," Chase confessed, then faced Liv. "I'm more saddened by the loss of our beautiful night together, Olivia…"

Liv immediately looked elsewhere.

"Well, been there, done that, anyway," Chase shrugged. Reid grew angrier at that, getting ready to fire up a good blast just for him.

"Aww, what's the matter, Reid?" Chase coaxed. "Don't like it when people touch your things?"

Reid responded by jerking Chase close, snatching him by the collar.

"I oughta break you in two," Reid growled.

"Reid, foolish Reid," Chase said piteously, shaking his head, easily prying Reid's hands away from his neck with the added power of Using. The veins in Reid's hands protruded immediately, making him groan in pain. "Do you really think you can take me? You have less power than Caleb used to boast prior to his Ascension, and HE could barely hold his own against me."

Liv opened the door to the car and stepped out slowly, her eyes locked on the two boys before her. Reid shoved Chase away from himself, breaking Chase's painful hold on his wrists. Reid rubbed his forearms to ease the injury, and glared murder at Chase.

"Listen close, Collins, 'cuz I'm not telling you again," Reid commanded with warning. "You had _better_ release her… _Now_."

Chase cocked his head in amusement, looking at Reid with mocking eyes.

"Ah, I see," Chase said with a nod. "Such unwavering devotion… it's truly heartwrenching. Quite a job you've done here, Olivia. I'm impressed."

"Chase," Liv begged. "Please, don't…"

Chase put up a hand, and some outside force stopped her from being able to move. Liv felt like her feet were nailed to the ground.

"Let's test how great a work you've managed," Chase said, taking a fighting stance, daring Reid to challenge him again.

Reid answered by making to hurl a large sum of energy force his way, but Chase easily deflected it like it was made of paper, and shot Reid into the wall behind him. Liv gasped, but still stood frozen and unable to help.

"Chase, no!"

"Will me your power, Reid," Chase commanded him in a low, husky voice.

"I ain't willin' you shit," Reid replied bluntly as he heaved himself back to his feet.

Chase looked up at the sky, sighing loudly in frustration.

"Will me your power, and I will release your precious lady. She can go on to live a full life…"

Reid looked at Liv, then frowned in disgust.

"I'll say it again: I ain't willin' you shit. The whore can die, for all I care."

Liv gasped in all the air her lungs would allow, hurt tears immediately springing to her eyes, her hands slapping over her mouth in utter shock. Did he really just say that? Even Chase seemed a bit surprised, then calmed when he figured out the reason why.

"Trying to be clever, are we, Reid?" Chase laughed. "I let Liv die, and YOU can bring her back to life, as your own Eidolon, spick and span and free from the likes of me. Very cute. I think I'll just kill you myself and save her the trouble that she's been suffering these past few months."

Reid curled his fingers around new spheres of energy, his eyes shifting black and filling with fire.

"Then you choose the hard way."

"Looks like," Chase agreed. "You actually think you could take me all on your own? You're crazier than I am."

Chase then extended his hand to Reid, lifting him into the air and hurling him into a metal trashcan, then into a park bench, then a branch of a tree. Reid groaned, struggling hard to arise.

"Go ahead, keep feeding that addiction," Chase urged Reid with a laugh. "I can do this all night."

"Reid, don't!" Liv tried to protest, but Reid wasn't listening. He weakly tried to hurl another snowball-sized wad of energy, but again Chase slammed him into a wall of a nearby building, then let him plummet to the cement ground. Liv's sympathetic and fearful tears were flowing quite freely now. There was nothing she could do but stand by and watch.

Reid grasped the wall for support, his injuries making themselves obnoxiously known. With the help of the notches in the brick wall, he still managed to haul himself to his feet again, much to Chase's surprise, considering the beating he was taking. Reid's eyes were still black, still furious, still ready for the harshest of battles.

"More?" Chase asked with disbelief.

Chase stepped up close to Reid, and stomped a blast of power with his foot, throwing Reid back to the ground. Chase stood over his fallen adversary, looking down upon him in more ways than one.

"I pity the love-stricken," he said shamefully, shaking his head with disappointment. "It is such a deceitful Achilles' heel in the form of Paradise that they willingly inflict upon themselves."

Again, Reid answered with actions rather than words, shaking the very earth beneath Chase's feet. Before he could move, Chase was already hurling a park bench into his middle, pinning him into the wall behind him, before both he and the bench crashed to the ground. Reid could feel his ribs break inside his chest, barely able to force air into his lungs. Calling out through his pain, he gathered strength enough to shove the bench off of him. He rolled over on his hands and knees, blood dripping from his mouth and praying to God it wasn't internal bleeding.

"Chase, stop!" Liv pleaded at the top of her lungs. "Can't you see? You're killing him!"

"In case you forgot," Chase replied with a smirk. "That was the general idea to _begin_ with, dearest."

Reid was even slower in movement this time around, but still managed to prop himself up on his feet, pushing off the ground in his painful struggle to get up again.

"And you _still_ want more?" Chase spat in surprise. "Oh, stop— you're breaking my heart."

-

Please review.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue


	25. More Human Than Human ::The End::

**Chapter 25:**

**-**

Reid stumbled and hauled himself upright, having great trouble in doing so. The pain burned in his chest, blood dripping from his nose, his ears, and his mouth. His entire body screamed in protest with every muscle movement. He wasn't going to last much longer. He knew this. But he had to get up… for her.

But his body would not allow it. After about the third time of rising just to fall on his face again, Chase laughed out loud.

"If you ask for death, you shall receive it," Chase informed him. "But not until…"

Reid continued in his fight to get up, and did not give him the satisfaction of a reply.

Chase directed his attention back to Liv, walking up to her slowly. Liv's feet were still stuck in place, otherwise she would have backed away from his advances.

"Watch how your mighty hero falls," Chase told her, then turned and extended his hand to Reid once more, launching a painful blast of energy his way.

"AHHH!!" Reid yelled in pain, writhing and squirming in an apparent torture.

"Tell me, REID!" Chase called over the noise of his screams. "Are you willing to give your life, to wipe out your namesake, to end your own _bloodline_, all for this deceptive slave of mine?"

But Reid could not hear anything, could not concentrate on much besides the torture being inflicted on him.

"_AHHH_!!"

He was dying.

"Reid, no!" Liv screamed in tears. "Oh, God… Chase, please, _STOP_!"

"LIV!" Reid shouted through his pain. He reached his hand out toward her, wishing to touch her one more time before his breath left him for good…

Flashes of lovely memories streaming through Liv's mind of when he and Reid had met, of when they had first kissed, what his lips felt like upon hers… memories she held most dear, memories that were threatening to cause horrible pain if Reid did not survive to keep them sweet in her mind.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a rock sailed into the side of Chase's head. Then another, then another.

All eyes turned to find the source of this attack, to find Cassie and Rachel with stones firmly grasped in their fists. Liv smiled at such a welcome rescue.

"Back away from my girl Liv, you creep!" Cassie yelled, throwing another rock. Chase, now prepared for such blows, easily threw the stone aside before it hit him. But their purpose was served, for his paralyzing spell on Liv was broken.

Suddenly the glow sprang back to Liv's skin, her eyes narrowing and her hands tingling in anger and raw determination. Slowly her fists tightened and clenched into a ball. Her whole body began to shake. Slamming her palm to the moist earth, she screamed:

"_Selah undomnia extollo humus_!"

She couldn't help but wonder why those words for Chase's resurrection that he had taught her so long ago had just sprang to her mind to say. An image appeared in her mind of Caleb giving her an encouraging nod. He had told her through a mental message.

Chase looked at Liv like she had gone insane. His torturous hold on Reid paused long enough to listen.

"What was _that_?" he asked her in bewilderment.

After that, he almost immediately felt it. He clutched his heart, frowning in utter confusion. The ground below him began to split apart, the earth falling watery like mud. The sludge shifted like a living substance, wrapping itself around Chase's legs with a firm grasp, pulling him downward into the opening hole.

"No!" Chase yelled in fear and surprise. "NO!"

The mud drifted up to his torso, and he began to sink like he was standing in quicksand. Soon it crawled over his head, swallowing him like a monster taking over. The earth finally overtook him, and Chase was gone.

Liv let out all her breath in relief, dropping to her knees. It was over.

"Liv!" Cassie yelled, running up to her, Rachel right behind her.

"How did you know?" Liv breathed in gratitude.

"I filled her in on some of it," Rachel confessed.

"I saw the rest with my own eyes," Cassie added on.

Cassie put her hand Liv's friend's cheek, smiling with deep understanding.

"He really loves you, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Liv replied honestly, frowning in embarrassment.

Liv looked down at the boy in question. His eyes were closed, and she feared the worst. Even in the face of death, he had never been more beautiful.

The Reid's eyes opened, and he looked at her as if he couldn't quite comprehend what was happening. The pain was so great inside him that his brain was slowly shutting down all feeling in his nerves. He coughed once, more blood, then gathered his breath to speak. Seeing as this would more than likely be his final words no matter what Liv did, she didn't stop him from using the last of his strength on such a task.

"I would have given you my name…" Reid breathed. Liv smiled and laughed through her tears.

"And I would have given that name to a son," she assured him. Seemingly satisfied, Reid closed his eyes and all consciousness left him.

-

Liv stroked the hair from Reid's face, as he lay on a king-sized bed in the Garwin mansion. The white satin sheets had speckles of blood from his various scrapes and cuts. His shirt had been removed to clean and dress his wounds. The room was dim, with the dawn's light just barely coming through the window.

Reid was still within an inch from death. Still barely breathing. Still a lifeless mound. Caleb, Tyler, Pogue, Cassie, and Rachel stood around waiting for a change, but one had not come in many hours of patience.

"Liv," Caleb broke the silence at last. "You will die within sixteen hours. You have to let me revive you."

"No," Liv countered firmly. "If he dies, I'm going with him."

"But you--" Cassie started.

"I'm sorry, that's my final decision."

As the hours passed, Tyler, Pogue, Cassie and Rachel all had gone home. Only Caleb remained in a waiting chair, while Liv laid beside Reid, her life fading from her quickly. She was more than ready to draw her last breath with him.

She looked upon the face she had grown to love. Grown to live for. Grown to be Liv for. She felt like the years she had spent truly alive were the ones really pointless, yet there was not a day of her half-life that she would consider wasted. Through her Eidolon life for Chase, she had truly become more human than her former human life. Every moment near to Reid was now worth a thousand lifetimes. Thus, she hugged him closer to her.

Her breath began to fade. Caleb only watched, expectantly waiting for her to change her mind and yell for him to revive her. But she would not.

The world around began to fall dim. Her breaths were more forced now. Her heart slowed in its beats. Liv leaned her head upon his bare chest, hearing his heartbeat to make up for her gradual lacking of one of her own. Sighing in contentment, she closed her eyes and released her final breath.

-

Liv fluttered her eyes open to a bright white light, afraid and very much confused. She was still on Reid's bed, but she now laid alone upon it. She came to realize quickly that she was supposed to be dead. A quick glance about the room and she saw Caleb, Tyler, Pogue, Cassie, Rachel, and finally… Reid. The blonde was sitting upright upon the side of the bed, a broad, mischievous, and slightly suggestive grin upon his face.

"So," he said with a dirty smirk. "I guess you're _MY_ slave now…"

-

**THE END**

**-**

**Wow, it's really over? Thanks to the many of you who supported and reviewed this story. Oh, and a Reid/Liv tribute vid is up now on YouTube. The link is on my profile page, as usual. Thanks again to you all! Final thoughts are wanted.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


	26. Olivia's Letter ::Epilogue::

**More Human Than Human: Epilogue**

-

Dear Dad,

Things are going great at my new school. I've made friends and I have dropped a few classes so I'll have more time to call and maybe even visit soon. I'll definitely be around for Christmas, so make sure to get the days off work. I have someone I really want you too meet. Yes, Dad, a boy. He's pretty special to me. You could say we're… bonded to one another. Don't worry; he's filthy rich. Oh yeah, okay, and we love each other too, but that's a side note, right? I love you and miss you, daddy. Reid and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Signed,

Liv (A.K.A. the Sleuth)

-

**I realized that was a loose end I needed to firmly tie up. Thanks for all the support of the story, once more.  
Signed,  
--RedRogue**


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